128.44 
N42 


New  York  citizens 


Proceedings  at  the  mass 
meeting  of  loyal  citizens 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


PROCEEDINGS 


AT    THE 


ass  Electing  0f 

•^  ^> — '  *W 


ON 


UNION  SQUARE,  NEW-YORK, 

15th  DAY   OF   JULY,    1862. 

UNDER    THE    AUSPICES    OF 

THE     CHAMBER    OF    COMMERCE    OF    THE    STATE    OF    NEW-YORK,    THE     UNION 
DEFENCE    COMMITTEE    OF    THE    CITIZENS    OF    NEW-YORK,    T 
COMMON  COUNCIL  OF    THE   CITY  OF  NEW-YORK, 

AND  OTHER  COMMITTEES 

OF 

LOYAL     CITIZENS. 

LETTERS  AND   SPEECHES. 


PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OF 


R  OF  THE  COMMITTEE    OK    ARRANGEMENTS    UNDER  THE  SUPERT.SIOX  OF 


JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS,  JR.,  Secretary. 


N  E  W  -  Y  0  R  K  : 
GEORGE  F.  XESBITT  &  CO.,  PRINTERS, 

CORNER    OF    PEARL    AND    PINE    STS.     . 
1862. 


PROCEEDINGS 


AT   THE 


ttg  0f  ¥flpl  Cites, 


UNION  SQUARE,  NEW-YORK, 

15th  DAY   OF   JULY,    1862, 


UNDER   THE    AUSPICES    OF 

THE     CHAMBER    OF    COMMERCE    OF    THE    STATE    OF    NEW-YORK,    THE    UNION 

DEFENCE    COMMITTEE    OF    THE    CITIZENS    OF    NEW-YORK,    THE 

COMMON  COUNCIL  OF   THE  CITY  OF  NEW-YORK, 

AND  OTHER  COMMITTEES 


LOYAL     CITIZENS. 

LETTERS  AND   SPEECHES. 

PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  OF  ARRANGEMENTS  UNDER  THE  SUPERVISION  OF 

JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS,  JR.,  Secretary. 


NEW-YORK : 
GEORGE  F.  NESBITT  &  CO.,  PRINTERS, 

CORNER  OF  PEARL  AND  PINE  STS. 

1862. 


PRELIMINARY    PROCEEDINGS, 


ORGANIZATION  OF  COMMITTEES. 


CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW- YORK,  | 

NEW- YORK,  July  3d,  1862.      \ 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  held  this  da}T,  the 
President  in  the  chair,  the  following  Preamble  and  Resolutions 
were  unanimously  adopted  : — 

On  the  1 9th  day  of  April,  1861,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the 
State  of  New- York  declared  its  sentiments  in  regard  to  the  duty 
of  loyal  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  sustain  the  Government 
in  its  efforts  to  suppress  a  wicked  and  injurious  rebellion,  then  but 
recently  commenced. 

In  accordance  with  the  sentiments  at  that  time  expressed,  and 
in  the  discharge  of  the  like  obligations  of  duty  to  the  country,  this 
Chamber  does  hereby 

RESOLVE — 

First.  That  it  will  continue  to  sustain,  by  its  influence  with  the 
commercial  community  and  to  the  fullest  extent  of  its  means,  the 
National  Government  in  a  vigorous  and  determined  effort  to  main- 
tain the  integrity  of  the  Union,  and  effectually  to  put  down 
rebellion. 

/Second.  That  in  the  recent  appeal  made  by  the  President  to 
the  loyalty  of  the  country  for  additional  military  forces,  the  Cham- 
ber recognizes  the  patriotism  and  energy  which  should  insure  con- 
fidence in  his  fidelity  to  the  Constitution,  and  in  his  determination 
to  preserve  the  National  honor. 

Third.  That  this  Chamber  will  cordially  unite  with  other  bodies 
of  loyal  citizens  in  any  measures  calculated  to  give  efficiency  to 
the  military  and  naval  power  of  the  Government,  and  to  preserve 
and  maintain  the  character  of  this  community  for  patriotism  and 
loyal  devotion  to  the  Union. 


Further.  That  a  Committee  of  thirteen  members  be  appointed 
by  the  chair  to  consider  and  recommend  to  the  Chamber,  such 
measures  as  they  may  deem  advisable,  to  give  practical  effect  to 
this  expression  of  the  sentiments  of  the  Chamber. 

The  President  named  as  such  Committee : 

GEORGE  OPDYKE,  Chairman. 

JOHN  A.  STEVEXS,  CHARLES  H.  MARSHALL, 

A.  A.  Low,  S.  D.  BABCOCK, 

PROSPER  M.  WETMORE,  GEORGE  W.  BLUNT, 

DENNING  DUER,  ROBT.  B.  MINTURN, 

WILLIAM  E.  DODGE,  JONATHAN  STURGES, 

CHRISTOPHER  R.  ROBERT,  ROYAL  PHELPS. 

A  true  extract  from  the  Records  of  the  Chamber. 

JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS,  Jr., 

Secretary. 

A  copy  of  the  Preamble  and  Resolutions  was,  by  direction  of 
the  President  of  the  Chamber,  engrossed  and  forwarded  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States. 

CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW- YORK,  ) 
NEW-YORK,  July  5th,  1862.      f 

To  the  President  of  the  United  States  : 

SIR, — I  have  the  honor  to  present  a  copy  of  Preamble  and  Resolutions  unani- 
mously adopted  by  this  Chamber  at  their  general  meeting  this  day. 

The  Chamber  show  the  will  to  meet  with  cheerfulness  all  present  sacrifices, 
and  the  determination  to  aid  the  Government  to  the  extent  of  their  ability  in 
prompt  and  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war,  until  the  national  authority  is  re- 
established and  the  integrity  of  the  Union  restored. 

With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVEXS,  Jr., 
Secretary  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

On  the  5th  July,  the  Committee  of  Thirteen,  appointed  by  the 
Chamber,  met  and  addressed  invitations  to  the  Union  Defence 
Committee  of  the  citizens  of  New-York  and  the  Common  Council 
of  the  city  of  New-York,  inviting  their  co  operation. 

CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE  ROOMS,  ) 
NEW- YORK,  July  5th,  Jb62.      j 

To  the  Union  Defence  Committee  of  the  Citizens  of  New-York: 

GEXTLEMEX, — I  have  the  honor  to  communicate  the  following  resolution, 
unanimously  passed  this  day  by  a  Committee  appointed  on  thevpart  of  the 
Chamber  to  take  into  consideration  the  present  state  of  our  national  afl'airs  : 


Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  to  meet  a  similar  committee 
from  the  Union  Defence  Committee,  and  committees  from  other  bodies  of  loyal 
citizens,  to  unite  upon  the  proper  measures  to  sustain  the  National  (Government 
in  crushing  out  this  rebellion,  with  power  to  call  this  committee  together  to  re- 
ceive their  report. 

Under  this  resolution  the  following  gentlemen  were  appointed  on  the  part  of 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  : 

Hon.  GEORGE  OPDYKE,  Chm'n,        JONATHAN  STURGES, 
C.  R.  ROBERT,  DENNING  DUER, 

JOHN  A.  STEVENS. 

With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS,  Jr., 

Secretary. 


UNION  DEFENCE  COMMITTEE  OF  MHE  CITIZENS  OF  NEW-YORK,  ) 

NEW-YORK.  July  8^,1862.      J 

John  Austin  Stevens,  Jr.,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce : 

SIR, — I  am  instructed  to  acknowledge  your  communication  of  this  day.  invit- 
ing a  deputation  from  this  body  to  confer  with  a  committee  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  in  relation  to  the  public  affairs  of  the  country. 

This  committee  will  cheerfully  unite  with  the  Chamber  in  the  furtherance  of 
any  measures  calculated  to  promote  the  public  welfare  ;  and  I  am  accordingly 
instructed  to  transmit  to  you  the  following  Dames  composing  a  committee  of 
conference : 

Messrs.  HAMILTON  FISH,  A.  C.  RICHARDS, 

A.  T.  STEWART,  R.  A.  WITTHAUS, 

R.  31.  BLATCHFORD,     SAMUEL.  SLOAN, 
P.  M.  WETMORE. 

I  am,  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

PROSPER  M.  WETMORE, 

Secretary  pro  tern. 


UNION  DEFENCE  COMMITTEE,  ) 
NEW-YORK,  July  12th,  1862.      f 
SIR: 

In  accordance  with  the  expressed  desire  of  the  Convention  of  Committees 
appointed  to  ca'l  a  public  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  New- York,  I  am  instructed 
to  inform  you  that  ihe  action  in  question  received  the  sanction  of  all  the  members 
of  this  committee  prt-sent  at  the  meeting  of  the  8th  inst.,  viz.  : 

HAMILTON  FISH,  Chairman,      R.  M.  BLATCHFORD, 

SIMEON  DRAPER,  M.  H   GRINNKLI., 

SAMUEL  SLOAN,  R.  H.  McCuRDY, 

WM.  E.  DODGE,  R.  A.  WITTHAUS, 

Hon.  GKO.  OPDYKE,  W.  F.  HAVEMEYER, 

ROBT.  T.  HAWS,  A.  C.  RICHARDS. 

ISAAC  BELL,  P.  M.  WETMORE, 

I  am.  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

PROSPER  M.  WETMORE. 

Secretary  pro.  tern. 

JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS.  Jr.,  Esq.,  Secretary  Joint  Convention. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  BOARD  OF  ALDERMEN. 

The  following  communication  was  received  from  His  Honor  the 
Mayor,  transmitting  a  communication  from  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, relative  to  the  state  of  our  national  affairs  : — 

MAYOR'S  OFFICE,  NEW-YORK,  } 
July  1th,  1862.      J 
To  the  Honorable  the  Common  Council: 

GENTLEMEN, — The  events  of  the  last  fortnight  appear  to  call  for  a  renewed  ex- 
pression of  our  devotion  to  our  country,  and  of  our  unfalt'-ring  determination  to 
sustain  the  Government  in  its  efforts  to  suppress  the  rebellion.  After  an  almost 
uninterrupted  series  of  victories  for  half  a  year,  we  have  at  last  met  with  two  re- 
verses— one  at  Charleston  and  the  other  before  Richmond — which,  though  inde- 
cisive and  temporary,  do  yet  disappoint  our  confident  expectations,  and  tend  to 
prolong  the  war,  supposed  by  some  to  be  well-nigh  ended.  Upon  such  a  disap- 
pointment, it  seems  fitting  that  we.  as  the  official  organ  of  the  most  populous  and 
opulent  city  of  the  Republic,  should  repeat  the  declaration  of  unwavering  con- 
stancy, which  neither  victory  nor  defeat  can  change,  and  our  unalterable 
resolution  to  stand  by  the  Government  in  maintaining  the  supremacy  of  the 
Constitution  and  the  integrity  of  the  country,  at  all  hazards,  and  at  every  neces- 
sary sacrifice  of  life  and  treasure. 

In  the  presence  of  the  great  conflict  in  which  the  country  is  engaged,  we  will 
forget  all  past  differences  of  party  or  opinion -for  all  party  considerations  sink 
into  insignificance  in  the  presence  of  danger  to  the  Government  itself:  we  will 
summon  every  loyal  citizen  to  join  us  in  supporting  the  Government,  and  to 
aid  us  by  his  services  and  counsel ;  we  will  give  a  generous  confidence  to  the 
President  and  all  whom,  in  the  exercise  of  his  just  authority,  he  thinks  proper 
to  place  in  positions  under  him  ;  and  while  we  must  exercise  the  privilege  of 
freemen,  to  criticise  public  men,  and  exact  from  them  fidelity  to  their  trusts, 
vigor  and  promptitude  in  action,  and  such  a  comprehensive  and  we'1-considered 
policy,  as  to  adapt  the  means  to  the  end— availing,  for  this  purpose,  of  all 
the  instrumentalities  that  the  usages  of  civilized  warfare  will  justify — we  will 
dec'are  to  them  that  our  lives  and  fortunes  are  at  the  service  of  our  country, 
and  that  we  ask  only  to  be  informed  how  much  is  needed,  and  to  be  assured 
that  what  we  give  shall  be  faithfully  and  wisely  applied  to  that  service. 

It  is  one  of  the  uses  of  national  reverses  that  they  serve  to  winnow  the  dis- 
loyal from  the  loyal.  Now  is  the  time  to  know  who  is  true  and  who  is  false. 
The  country  never  needed  the  services  of  traitors,  and  now  less  than  ever.  But 
she  does  need  the  services  of  all  her  loyal  children,  that  she  may  not  only  over- 
throw this  gigantic  but  causeless  rebellion  against  her  authority  but  may  repel, 
with  becoming  spirit,  the  first  approach  to  that  foreign  intervention  in  her 
affairs  which  is  at  times  obscurely  threatened,  and  which  we  cannot  admit  for 
one  instant  without  national  disgrace.  Let  us.  then,  seek  out.  discover,  and 
brina:  to  punishment  every  disloyal  person  :  and  let  us  call  on  all  the  loyal  to 
stand  together,  and  to  speuk  and  act  as  one  man.  for  the  safety  and  honor  of 
the'r  country.  If  we  had  never  had  a  victory  ;  if.  from  the  beginning  of  the  war 
till  now,  a  series  of  uninterrupted  disasters  had  fallen  upon  our  armies,  we  could 
not  even  then  have  compromised  with  revolt,  or  submitted  to  dismemberment, 
without  the  basest  pusillanimity.  But  our  arms  have  been,  for  the  most  part, 
victorious ;  the  area  of  the  rebellion  has  been  gradually  contracted  by  the 
advances  of  the  armies  of  the  Union  ;  the  great  rivers  of  the  West  have  been 
opened  ;  all  but  four  of  the  seaports  on  the  whole  coast,  from  Cape  Henry  to 
the  Rio  Grande,  have  been  retaken  and  restored  to  the  Union.  The  Federal 
auth  -rity  has  been  re-established  over  many  fortresses  and  cities,  where  a  year 
ago  it  was  contemned,  and  we  are  gradually  winning  them  all  back  by  the  irre- 
sistible force  of  our  arms.  Our  country  has,  therefore,  no  cause  of  discourage- 
ment, but  every  reason  to  hope,  and  every  motive  to  persevere. 


Considering  these  things,  I  suggest  respectfully  to  your  Honorable  Bodies, 
the  propriety  of  passing  resolutions,  pledging  the  people  of  this  Metropolis  to  the 
support  of  the  Government  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war  and  the  maintenance 
of  the  national  honor  ;  and  that  you  authorize  your  Joint  Committee  on  National 
Affairs  to  unite  with  the  Committee  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  other 
committees  acting  with  them,  in  calling  a  public  meeting  of  citizens  of  all  parties, 
to  express,  without  reference  to  any  party  question  whatever,  their  undimmished 
confidence  in  the  justice  of  our  cause,  their  inflexible  purpose  to  maintain  it  to  the 
end.  and  to  proffer  to  the  Government  all  the  aid  it  may  need,  to  the  extent  of 
all  our  resources. 

Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  received  the  accompanying  resolution  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  on  the  same  subject,  with  a  request  that  it  be  transmitted 
to  your  Honorable  Body. 

GEORGE  OPDYKE, 

Mayor. 


CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW-YORK,  ) 
NEW- YORK,  July  5th,  1862.      f 

To  the  Honorable  the  Common  Council  of  the  City  of  New-York: 

I  have  the  honor  to  communicate  to  your  Honorable  Body,  the  following 
resolution,  passed  unanimously  this  day,  by  a  committee  appointed  on  the  part 
of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  to  take  into  consideration  the  state  of  national 
affairs  : 

Resolved.  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed,  to  meet  a  similar  committee 
from  the  Union  Defence  Committee,  and  committees  from  other  bodies  of  loyal 
citizens,  to  unite  upon  the  proper  measures  to  sustain  the  National  Government, 
in  crushing  out  this  rebellion,  with  power  to  call  this  Committee  together  to  re- 
ceive their  report. 

Under  this  resolution,  the  following  gentlemen  were  appointed  on  the  part  of 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  : 

Hon.  GEORGE  OPDYKE,          DENNING  DUER, 
C.  E.  ROBERT,  JOHN  A.  STEVENS, 

JONATHAN  STURGES. 

With  respect,  your  obedient  sen-ant, 

JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS,  Jr., 

Secretary. 


Alderman  DAYTON"  moved  that  the  communication  from  his 
Honor  the  Mayor  be  referred  to  the  Joint  Committee  on  National 
Affairs,  and  that  the  Committee  on  National  Affairs  be  authorized 
and  directed  to  co-operate  with  the  Committee  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  in  the  manner  recommended  by  his  Honor  the  Mayor 
in  his  communication. 

The  whole  subject  was  referred  to  Committee  on  National  Af- 
fairs. 


8 


Same  documents  sent  to  Board  of  Councilmen,  and  thereupon 
Councilman  ORTON  moved  that  the  communication  be  received 
and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  National  Affairs,  with  power  to 
confer  with  any  other  committees  relative  to  the  state  of  the 
Union,  if  in  their  j  udgment  advisable. 

Which  was  carried. 

The  Joint  committee  on  National  Affairs  appointed  as  a  sub- 
committee to  confer  with  the  other  committees  the  following : 

COUNCILMAN  WM.    OETON,   Chairman. 
Aid.  PETER  MITCHELL,  Councilman  WM.  H.  GEDNEY. 

"      HENRY  SMITH,  Aid.  IRA  A.  ALLEN. 

This  committee  attended,  and  chose  Aid.  MITCHELL  to  represent 
them  on  the  Committee  on  Eesolutions. 


9 
MEETING    OF    CONVENTION    OF    COMMITTEES. 


The  joint  Committees  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  the  Union 
Defence  Committee  and  the  Common  Council,  met  on  Wednesday, 
the  9th  of  July.  A  Committee  of  five  on  the  part  of  a  body  of 
citizens,  who  met  at  the  Mayor's  office,  July  7th,  consisting  of — 

JUDGE  JAMES  W.  WHITE,  Chairman, 
Dr.  FRANCIS  LIBBER,  GEO.  D.  PHELPS, 

DAVID  DUDLEY  FIELD,  ISAAC  SHERMAN, 

appeared,  and  was  requested  to  take  part  in  the  proceedings  ;  as 
was  also  a  Committee  of  five,  on  the  part  of  a  body  of  citizens 
who  met  at  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel : 

EGBERT  H.  McCUEDY,  Chairman, 
CHARLES  GOULD,  MORRIS  KETCHUM, 

WILLIAM  CURTIS  NOTES,       NATHANIEL  HAYDEN. 

A  sub-committee  was  appointed  to  draft  and  prepare  an  Address 
and  a  series  of  Eesolutions,  to  be  submitted  for  ratification  to  a 
public  meeting,  to  be  called  at  an  early  day. 

An  Address  and  Eesolutions  were  submitted  on  the  10th  of  July, 
and  unanimously  adopted. 

The  Committee  of  Thirteen  appointed  by  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, met  on  the  same  day.  and  unanimously  ratified  the  action 
of  their  sub-committee. 

The  Chamber  of  Commerce  met  on  the  same  day,  to  receive  the 
report  of  the  Committee  of  Thirteen,  which  was  unanimously 
accepted,  and  the  Committee  continued,  with  power  to  carry  out 
the  objects  proposed. 

A  true  abstract  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 

and  of  joint  Convention. 

JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS,  Jr., 

Secretary  of  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  of  Joint  Convention. 
•9 


10 

INVITATION  TO  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

In  accordance  with  a  resolution  of  the  Committee  of  Arrange- 
ments, a  sub-committee  consisting  of  Hon.  George  Opdyke,  J.  W. 
White,  Samuel  Sloan,  Denning  Duer,  and  R  H.  McCurdy,  was  ap- 
pointed to  visit  Washington,  and  to  request  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  be  present  at  the  meeting.  Two  of  the  Committee 
being  unexpectedly  prevented  by  other  pressing  engagements  from 
fulfilling  the  commission,  F.  S.  Winston,  though  not  a  member  of 
the  Committee,  was  subsequently  added.  A  copy  of  the  Address 
and  Resolutions  was  handsomely  engrossed  and  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  Chairman,  for  delivery  to  the  President ;  and  the  following 
letter  was  also  addressed,  to  serve  as  the  credentials  of  the  Com- 
mittee. 

EOOMS  OF  THE  CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW-YORK,  ) 

NEW-YORK,  July  10fA,  1862.      } 
To  the  President  of  the  United  States : 

SIR, — I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  at  a  Convention,  held  this  day,  of 
Committees  severally  appointed  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  State  of 
New-York,  the  Union  Defence  Committee,  the  Common  Council  of  the  city,  and 
other  bodies  of  loyal  citizens,  it  was  unanimously 

Resolved,  To  hold  a  public  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  New- York,  in  favor  of 
supporting  the  government  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  the  suppression  of 
the  rebellion ;  to  express,  without  reference  to  any  party  question  whatever,  their 
undiminished  confidence  io  the  justice  of  our  cause,  and  their  inflexible  purpose  to 
maintain  it  to  the  end,  and  to  proffer  to  the  Government  all  the  aid  it  may  need, 
to  the  extent  of  all  their  resources. 

A  Committee  of  Arrangements  was  appointed,  to  take  all  measures  to  render 
the  meeting  as  effective  as  the  occasion  for  it  demands,  by  whose  direction,  and 
in  whose  behalf,  Messrs.  J.  W.  White,  R.  H.  McCurdy,  and  F.  S.  Winston, 
visit  the  capital  to  earnestly  invite  the  presence  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States  at  the  proposed  meeting,  believing  that  such  course  will  arouse  the  enthu- 
siasm of  this  city,  of  this  State,  and  of  the  whole  country,  in  this  imminent  crisis 
of  the  national  destiny. 

By  order  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements, 

GEORGE  OPDYKE,  HENRY  SMITH, 

DENNING  DUER,  GEORGE  D.  PIIELPS, 

JONATHAN  STURGES,  J.  W.  WHITE, 

SAMUEL  SLOAN,  CHARLES  GOULD, 

P.  M.  WETMORE,  ROBERT  H.  McCuRDY. 
PETER  MITCHELL, 

A  true  extract  from  the  Minutes. 

Respectfully,  your  most  obedient  sen-ant, 

JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS,  Jr., 
Secretary  of  Convention,  and  of  Committee  of  Arrangements. 


11 

WASHINGTON,  July  12th,  1862. 

To  the  President  : 

SIR, — The  undersigned  have  been  appointed  by  a  Convention  of  Committees, 
from  the  Common  Council,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  the  Union  Defence  Com- 
mittee, and  other  loyal  bodies  in  the  city  of  New-York,  to  proceed  to  this  city 
and  present  to  you  the  invitation  of  the  Convention,  to  attend  a  mass  meeting  of 
the  citizens  of  New- York,  to  be  convened  on  Tuesday,  15th  instant,  for  the 
purpose  of  declaring  their  continued  inflexible  determination  to  support  the 
Government  at  all  hazards,  and  in  every  measure  necessary  for  the  suppression 
of  the  existing  rebellion,  "  and,  to  that  end,  to  proffer  to  the  Government  all  the 
aid  in  their  power,  to  the  extent  of  all  their  resources." 

Presenting  to  you,  sir,  this  invitation,  which  we  have  been  commissioned  to 
deliver,  we  beg  leave  respectfully  to  add,  that  we  have  been  charged  by  the  Con- 
vention to  say,  that,  in  their  judgment,  nothing  could  be  more  gratifying  to  the 
people  of  New- York,  or  would  tend  more  to  invigorate  the  patriotism  which  ani- 
mates every  loyal  heart,  than  to  meet  their  Chief  Magistrate  thus  in  General 
Council  in  this  momentous  crisis  of  our  national  destiny. 

The  Convention  are  aware  that  the  act  to  which  they  thus  invite  the  President 
of  the  United  States — to  attend  a  mass  meeting  of  citizens  assembled  to  consider 
important  national  questions — is  one  not  in  accordance  with  any  previous  usage 
or  precedent ;  but  when  they  remember  that  the  occasion  is  one  without  a  pre- 
cedent in  the  past,  and  which  they  trust  in  God  will  be  without  anything  like  it 
in  the  future — a  struggle  with  a  rebellion  which,  in  the  history  of  the  world,  has 
no  parallel,  for  its  causelessness,  its  magnitude,  and  its  monstrous  wickedness  as 
a  crime  against  the  whole  human  race,  the  Convention  hope  that  you  may  be  able 
to  lay  aside  for  a  day  other  important  public  duties,  and  meet  your  loyal  fellow- 
citizens  at  the  time  and  in  the  manner  suggested. 

*•    We  are,  sir,  with  the  greatest  respect  and  consideration, 

Your  obedient  servants, 

JAMES  W.  WHITE,  } 

ROBERT  H.  McCuRDY,     >•  Committee. 

FREDERICK  S.  WINSTON,  ) 

To  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  President  of  the  United  States. 


REPLY  OP  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,        ) 
WASHINGTON,  July  14th,  1862.  j 

Messrs.  James  W.  White,  Robert  H.  McCurdy,and  F.  H.  Winston,  Committee: 

GENTLEMEN, — Your  letter  conveying  to  me  the  invitation  of  several  loyal  and 
patriotic  bodies  in  New- York  to  attend  a  mass  meeting  in  that  city,  on  Tuesday, 
the  15th  inst.,  is  received.  While  it  would  be  very  agreeable  to  me  to  thus  meet 
the  friends  of  the  country,  I  am  sure  I  could  add  nothing  to  the  purpose  in  the 
wisdom  with  which  they  will  perform  their  duty  ;  and  the  near  adjournment  of 
Congress  makes  it  indispensable  for  me  to  remain  here.  Thanking  you  and  those 
you  represent  for  this  invitation,  and  the  kind  terms  in  which  you  have  commu- 
nicated it, 

I  remain,  your  obedient  servant, 

A.  LINCOLN. 


12 

INVITATION    TO    CORPORATIONS,   ASSOCIATIONS     AND   SO- 
CDZTIES  TO  ATTEND  THE  MEETING  OP  LOYAL  CITIZENS. 

NEW-YORK,  July  llth,  1862. 
SIR: 

At  a  Convention  of  Committees,  severally  appointed  by  the  Common  Council 
of  this  City;  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  State  of  New- York  ;  by  the 
Union  Defence  Committee  ;  and  by  bodies  of  Loyal  Citizens  of  this  city,  it  was 
resolved  to  hold,  on  Tuesday,  the  loth  instant,  a  Mass  Meeting  of  all  parties 
who  are  in  favor  of  supporting  the  Government  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war 
and  suppressing  the  rebellion  ;  and  to  express,  without  reference  to  any  party 
question  whatever,  their  undiminished  confidence  in  the  justice  of  the  cause,  and 
their  inflexible  determination  to  sustain  it ;  and  to  that  end  to  proffer  to  the  Go- 
vernment their  aid  to  the  extent  of  all  their  resources. 

In  accordance  with  this  purpose,  the  undersigned  were  appointed  by  the  Con- 
vention a  Committee  to  invite  the  attendance  of  all  Associations,  Corporations, 
and  Societies. 

In  performance  of  this  duty,  we  request  that  you  will  issue  a  call  to  the  mem- 
bers of  your  Association,  and  convene  them  on  the  afternoon  of  Tuesday,  to 
proceed  to  the  Square,  where  accommodations  will  be  provided,  and  places  on 
the  Stands  be  reserved  for  your  officers. 

JAMES  "W.  WHITE,          ~j 

GEO.  OPDTKE, 

SAMUEL  SLOAN,  ~  , 

PROSPER  M.  WETMORE, 

DENNING  DUER, 

CHARLES  GOULD, 

JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS,  Jr.,  Secretary  of  Convention. 


13 
CALL    FOR    THE    MEETING    OF    LOYAL    CITIZENS, 


The  citizens  of  New- York,  of  all  parties,  who  are  for  supporting 
the  Government  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war  and  the  suppression 
of  the  rebellion,  are  requested  to  meet  on  Union  Square,  on  Tues- 
day afternoon  next,  15th  inst,  at  4  o'clock,  to  express,  without 
reference  to  any  party  question  whatever,  their  undiminished  con- 
fidence in  the  justice  of  our  cause,  and  their  inflexible  purpose  to 
maintain  it  to  the  end,  and  to  proffer  to  the  Government  all  the  aid 
it  may  need  to  the  extent  of  all  their  resources. 

NEW- YORK,  July  10th,  1862. 

Committee  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

GEORGE  OPDYKE,  Chairman,  JOHN  A.  STEVENS, 

CHARLES  H.  MARSHALL,  A.  A.  LOW, 

S.  D.  BABCOCK,  P.  M.  WETMORE, 

G.  W.  BLUNT,  DENNING  DUER, 

ROBERT  B.  MINTURN,  WILLIAM  E.  DODGE, 

JONATHAN   STURGES,  C.  R.  ROBERT, 
ROYAL  PHELPS. 

Committee  of  the  Union  Defence  Committee. 

HAMILTON  FISH,  Chairman,  SIMEON  DRAPER, 

ROBERT  T.  HAWS,  R.  M.  BLATGHFORD, 

SAMUEL  SLOAN,  ALEX.  T.  STEWART, 

WILLIAM  E.  DODGE.  R.  A.  WITTHAUS, 

MOSES  H.  GRINNELL,  A.    C.  RICHARDS, 

ISAAC  BELL,  WILLIAM  F.  HAVEMEYER. 

Committee  on  National    Affairs  of  the   Common   Council  of  New- York. 

WILLIAM  ORTON,  Chairman,  HENRY  SMITH, 

PETER  MITCHELL,  IRA  A.  ALLEN, 

WILLIAM  H.  GEDNEY,  TERENCE  FARLEY, 

CHARLES  J.  CHIPP,  MORGAN  JONES, 

JOHN  HOGAN,  ALEX.  H.  KEECH. 

A  Committee  of  Citizens  who  met  at  the  Mayor's  Office. 

JAMES  W.  WHITE,  Chairman,          FRANCIS  LIBBER, 
DAVID  DUDLEY  FIELD,  GEORGE  D.  PHELPS, 

ISAAC  SHERMAN. 

Committee  of  Citizens  who  met  at  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel. 

ROBT.  H.  McCURDY,  Chairman,        CHARLES  GOULD, 
WILLIAM  CURTIS  NOYES,  MORRIS  KETCHUM, 

NATHANIEL  HAYDEN. 

JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS,  Jr.,  Secretary. 


14 

BEQUEST  TO  CITIZENS  TO  CLOSE  PLACES  OF 
BUSINESS. 


The  loyal  citizens  of  every  class  and  profession  are  respectfully 
and  earnestly  invited  to  attend  the  Grand  Mass  Meeting,  to  be 
held  on  Tuesday  next,  15th  inst.,  at  four  o'clock,  on  Union 
Square. 

It  is  recommended  that  all  places  of  business  be  closed  at  three 
o'clock,  in  order  that  those  who  desire  to  show  their  loyalty  to  the 
Government  may  be  present. 

By  order  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements, 

GEOKGE  OPDYKE, 

Chairman. 
JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS,  Jr., 

Secretary. 


The  Committee  of  Arrangements,  together  with  speakers  and 
invited  guests,  met  at  the  Everett  House,  to  receive  their  several 
badges,  and  at  precisely  four  o'clock,  the  procession  was  formed,  and, 
preceded  by  the  band  and  headed  by  the  Mayor,  moved  toward 
the  designated  stands,  amid  salvos  of  artillery  and  accompanied  by 
thousands  of  citizens. 


OFFICERS. 


STAND    No.    1. 

Under  charge  of  Committee  of  Arrangements, 

JONATHAN   STUBGES,  SAMUEL  SLOAN 

JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS,  Jr. 


President. 

HON.  GEORGE  OPDYKE,  Mayor  of  the  city. 


Vice-Presidents. 


JOHN  T.  HENRY, 
JOHN  J.  PHELPS, 
A.  LOCKWOOD, 
STEPHEN  CAMBRELENG, 
ELIJAH  F.  PURDY, 
EGBERT  T.  HAWS, 
EDWARDS  PIERREPONT, 
HIRAM  BARNEY, 
HORACE  GREELEY, 
EUFUS  F.  ANDREWS, 

A.  C.  KlNGSLAND, 

JAMES  BOORMAN, 
DAVID  DUDLEY  FIELD, 
SAMUEL  B.  BETTS, 
NEHEMIAH  KNIGHT, 
WM.  B.  SHIPMAN, 
CORNELIUS  VANDERBILT, 
EDWARD  LEARNED, 
SIMEON  DRAPER, 
CHARLES  P.  DALY, 
ABRAM  WAKEMAN, 
CHARLES  H.  BUSSELL, 
HENRY  E.  DAVIES, 
PETER  S.  TITUS, 
W.  V.  BRADY, 
S.  B.  CHITTENDEN, 
CHARLES  BUTLER, 
JOHN  C.  HAMILTON, 
EGBERT  MURRAY, 
PAUL  SFOFFORD, 
GEORGE  W.  BROWN, 
CHARLES  BURKHALTER, 
GREENE  C.  BRONSON, 
SYDNEY  MASON, 
JOSEPH  WALKER, 
JAMES  WHITING, 


DANIEL  F.  TIEMANN, 
MORRIS  FRANKLIN, 
CHAS.  YATES, 
CHAS.  W.  SANDFORD, 
CHARLES  LAMSON, 
CHARLES  J.  CHIPP, 
WILLIAM  WATT, 

A.  DAVIDSON, 
HENRY  A.  HEISER, 
CHARLES  H.  MACY, 

B.  WESTERMANN, 
FRED.  WILLMAN, 
N.  EOSEMAN 
BERNHARD  COHEN, 
HENRY  BRUGGMAN, 
JOSEPH  LAWRENCE, 
GEORGE  T.  ELLIOTT, 
GEORGE  F.  THOMAE, 
SAMUEL  WETMORE, 
WM.  G.  LAMBERT, 
EDWIN  HOYT, 
WILLIAM  OOTHOUT, 
OLIVER  S.  STRONG, 
ISAAC  SHERMAN, 
JEREMIAH  BURNS, 
ANDREW  CARRIGAN, 
JAMES  A.  HAMILTON, 
GEORGE  GREER, 
EICHARD  M.  HOE, 
FREDERICK  H.  WOLCOTT, 
WALDEN  PELL, 

TEUNIS  QUICK, 
HYMAN  MORANGE, 
GEORGE  B.  BUTLER, 
JAS.  W.  BEEKMAN, 
ELI  WHITE, 


16 


JOHN  BAILEY, 
J.  M.  MARSH, 
CHARLES  NELSON, 
JOHN  J.  BRADLEY, 
WASHINGTON  SMITH, 
WM.  H.  ANTHON, 
DAVID  BELDEN, 
AMOS  BOBBINS, 
C.  Y.  WEMPLE; 
JOHN  B.  BRADY, 
JOHN  J  Cisco, 
E.  DELAFIELD  SMITH, 
GEORGW  DENISON, 
JOHN  P.  CROSBY, 
NATHAN  CHANDLER, 
J'.  S.  BOSWORTH, 
CHARLES  G.  CORNELL, 
JAMES  MONCRIEF, 
HENRY  BREWSTER, 
GEORGE  STARR, 
S.  S.  WYCKOFF, 
JAMES  BROOKS, 
GEORGE  BLISS, 
EDWARD  S.  JAFFRAY, 
THOMAS  LAWRENCE, 
HENRY  HILTON, 
CLARENCE  A.  SEWARD, 
GEORGE  P.  NESBITT, 
GEORGE  P.  PUTNAM, 
ERASTUS  C.  BENEDICT, 
THOMAS  STEVENSON, 
MORGAN  JONES, 
WILLIAM  F.  HAVEMEYEB, 
NATHANIEL  HAYDEN, 
JOSEPH  HOXIE, 
ELEAZAR  PARMLY, 
IRA  A.  ALLEN, 
GEO.  F.  TALMAN, 
BENJ.  F.  MANIERRE, 

C.  C.  PlNCKNEY, 
BlCHARD  BUSTEED, 

JAMES  KELLY, 

CHARLES  S.  SPENCER, 

LEVI  APGAR, 

WILLIAM  C.  WETMORE, 

ALEX.  H.  KEECH, 

H.  N.  WILLHELM, 

B.  WEIL  VAN  GENESBACK, 

A.  WlNDMULLER, 

FREDERICK  KUHNE, 

D.  LlCHTENSTEIN, 

M.  LEVIN, 
ANDRUS  WHILMAN, 
JOHN  HAYWARD, 

B.  W.  OSBORNE, 
DANIEL  SLATE, 
DANIEL  WELLS, 
P.  PFEIFFER. 


WILLIAM  W.  TODD, 
J.  PIERREPONT  MORGAN, 
C.  H.  MARSHALL,  Jr., 
HENRY  VANDEWATER, 
M.  D.  GALE, 
JOHN  HAYWARD, 

C.  H.  SAND, 

B.  VONDER  HEYDT, 
N.  WHEELER, 
J.  B.  CORNELL, 
CHARLES  STEINWAY, 
ERNEST  PREDT, 
JOSEPH   BALESTIER, 
•  BUDOLPH  DULON, 
OTTO  ERNST, 
DAVID  MILLER, 
M.  S.  DUNHAM, 
MAX  SCHAFFER, 
CHARLES  TAYLOR, 
HENRY  SEAMAN, 
J.  PENNIMAN, 
LATHAM  PARKER, 
NATH.  WORLEY, 
ENOCH  CHAMBERLAIN, 
WM.  H.  WEBB, 
HENRY  S.  SMITH, 
JAMES  HORN, 
PHILIP  HAMILTON, 
WARREN  WARD, 

D.  A.  WOOD, 
WADE  B.  WORRALL, 
JOHN  H.  WILLIAMS, 
FREDERICK  BEICHFUSS, 
EUGENE  S.  BALLIN, 
JOHN  WATSON, 
BENJAMIN  FLOYD, 
JULIUS  BRILL. 
WILLIAM  A.  KOBBE, 
CHARLES  SCHAFFNER, 
THEODORE  J.  GLAUBENSKLEE, 
LEOPOLD  BIERWITH, 
SIGISMUND  KAUFFMAN, 
EDWARD  BYRNES, 

HENRY  A.  CASSELEER, 
Louis  NAUMANN, 
WILLIAM  AUFERMANN, 
JOHN  C.  BRANT, 
ISAAC  G.  OGDEN, 
OLIVER  HOLDEN, 
ELIAS  HOWE,  Jr., 
JAMES  K.  PELL, 
NATH'L  W.  BURTIS, 

A.  MlCHELBACKER, 

PHILIP  FRANKENHEIMER, 
A.  MENZESHEIMER, 
CHARLES  CLUDIUS, 
WILLIAM  SCHARFENBERG, 
WILLIAM  TELLINGHAUSE. 


IT 


JOHN  BROOKS,  ISAAC  DAYTON, 

JOHN  E.  GAVITT,  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON, 

F.  E.  WELLINGTON,  JOHN  HOGAN, 

SETH  B.  HUNT,  ROBERT  BAYARD, 

FRANK  E.  HOWE,  SAMUEL  HOTALING, 

RICHARD  BERRY,  J.  M.  OLESEN, 

JAMES  GORDON  BENNETT,  SIGISMUND  WATERMAN, 

EZRA  NYE,  WILLIAM  C.  PKIME, 


Secretaries. 

JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS,  Jr.,  SIDNEY  WEBSTEK, 

JOHN  M.  WHITE,  R.  FULTON  CRARY, 

FREDERICK  STURGES,  LEWIS  CARR, 

WM.  S.  OPDYKE,  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE, 

EDWARD  A.  WETMORE,  N.  W.  HOWELL, 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT,  JAMES  COUPER  LORD, 

BROCKHOLST  CUTTING,  STUYVESANT  LsRoy, 

FRANCIS  A.  STOUT,  ETHAN  ALLEN, 

EDWARD  KING,  ROBERT  MORRIS  VANDENHEUVEL,, 

WILLIAM  F.  GARY,  Jr.,  JOHN  McCLAVE, 

JAMES  W.  UNDERBILL,  OSCAR  SCHMIDT, 

PETER  MARIE,  JOHN  H.  WHITE, 

CHARLES  G.  CLARK,  CHARLES  H.  TYLER, 

ALEXANDER  BECKER,  SAMUEL  W.  TUBBS, 

JAMES  E.  MAURAN,  JOSEPH  HOWARD,  Jr., 

CRUGER  OAKLEY,  THEODORE  TILTON, 

WILLIAM  J.  TODD,  JOHN  J.  WHITE, 

WASHINGTON  MURRAY,  WM.  H.  EVERETT, 

J.  HOWARD  WAINWRIGHT,  WM.  H.  PEET, 

G.  NORMAN  LIBBER,  JAS.  H.  FROTHINGHAM, 

MURRAY  HOFFMAN,  CHAS.  E.  STEVENS, 

GEORGE  McC.  MILLER,  CLINTON  RICE, 

HENRY  WINTHROP,  DAVID  ROWLAND, 

GEO.  F.  BETTS,  FLOYD  SMITH, 

WM.  F.  SMITH,  B.  H.  HOWARD. 


STAND    No.    1. 


SALUTES  OF  ARTILLERY,  by  the  ANTHON  LIGHT  BATTERY,  and 
by  the  WORKMEN  employed  by  HENRY  BREWSTER  &  Co. 

1.  GRAND  MARCH  by  Mendelssohn,  by  Helmsmuller's  Grand  Band. 

2.  JONATHAN  STURGES  will  call  the  meeting  to  order,  read  the 

^CALL  TOR  THE  MEETING,  and  conduct  to  the  Chair,  HON. 

'GEORGE  OPDYKE,  Mayor  of  the  city. 

3.  DENNING  DUER  will  read  the  list  of  Vice-Presidents  and  Sec- 

retaries. 

4.  Hon.  GEORGE  OPDYKE,  Chairman,  will  address  the  meeting. 

5.  DAVID  DUDLEY  FIELD  will  read  the  ADDRESS  adopted  by  the 

Convention  of  Committees. 

6.  JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS,  Jr.,  will  read  the  RESOLUTIONS  adopted 

by  the  Convention  of  Committees. 

7.  Song  on  our  Country  and  our  Flag,  by  FRANCIS  LIEBER  ;  sung 

by  Grand  Chorus  with  band  accompaniment. 

8.  CHARLES  KING  will  address  the  meeting. 

9.  WILLIAM  Ross  WALLACE  will  read  an  Ode,  composed  for  the 

occasion — "Keep  Step  to  the  Music  of  Union." 

10.  Music — Star-Spangled  Banner. 

11.  HIRAM  WALBRIDGE  will  address  the  meeting. 

12.  Music — Hail  Columbia. 

13.  SENATOR  SPINOLA  will  address  the  meetino- 

O 

14.  Music—Hail  to  the  Chief. 


19 

Mr.  JONATHAN  STURGES  called  the  meeting  to  order,  read  the 
call  of  the  meeting,  and  conducted  to  the  chair  Hon.  GEORGE 
OPDYKE,  Mayor  of  the  city,  amid  the  cheers  of  the  people. 

In  the  absence  of  Mr.  DENNING  DUER,  JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS, 
Jr.,  read  the  list  of  Yice-Presidents  and  Secretaries,  which  was 
adopted. 

SPEECH  OF  THE  HOX.  GEORGE  OPDYKE. 

FELLOW-CITIZENS — We  have  assembled  for  a  high  and  holy  pur- 
pose. We  come  to  renew  our  vows  at  the  altar  of  patriotism  ;  and  at 
what  place  so  fitting  as  in  the  presence  of  a  monument  erected  to  the 
memory  of  Washington  ?  [Cheers.]  We  come  to  reaffirm  our  earnest 
devotion  to  our  country  ;  to  pledge  our  lives  and  all  that  we  possess  in 
defence  of  the  Constitution  and  Union  which  our  fathers  bequeathed  to 
us,  and  to  declare  our  unalterable  determination  to  defend  them  to  the 
last,  not  merely  against  the  assaults  of  traitors,  but  if  need  be  against 
a  world  in  arms.  [Cheers.]  Come  what  may,  whether  disaster  or  suc- 
cess, we  are  determined  to  "  fight  on,  and  fight  ever,"  until  a  glorious 
and  enduring  triumph  shall  crown  our  efforts.  [Cheers.] 

We  are  here,  too,  to  denounce  treason  and  to  disown  political  fellow- 
ship with  all  who  sympathize  with  it.  We  have  no  toleration  for  those 
who,  without  provocation,  have  drenched  our  country  in  blood,  in  a 
fiendish  attempt  to  overthrow  a  Government  at  once  the  mildest  and 
most  beneficent  that  human  wisdom  ever  devised.  History  records  no 
blacker  crime  against  society.  In  a  contest  with  such  a  foe  there  can  be 
no  middle  or  neutral  ground.  All  who  are  not  earnestly  opposed  to 
these  enemies  of  their  country  and  of  the  human  race,  must  be  regarded 
as  participators  in  their  guilt ;  all  who  apologize  for  their  crime  must 
share  in  the  infamy  that  awaits  1  hem.  IS  or  are  there  any  grounds  of 
compromise  with  such  an  enemy.  Unconditional  submission  to  the 
Constitution  and  laws  they  have  contemned,  is  the  only  basis  of  recon- 
ciliation that  honor  or  safety  will  permit  us  to  offer  them.  [Cheers.] 

We  are  here  to  stimulate  and  encourage  the  President,  and  all  others 
charged  with  the  duty  of  suppressing  this  infamous  rebellion  ;  to  declare 
to  the  Administration  our  confidence  in  its  honesty,  ability  and  single- 
ness of  purpose ;  to  bid  it  be  of  good  cheer,  for  the  people,  regardless  of 
all  party  affinities,  have  resolved  that  the  Union  must  and  shall  be  pre- 
served, [loud  cheers  ;]  and  that  to  this  end,  and  the  speedy  suppression 
of  the  rebellion,  they  are  prepared  to  stand  as  one  man  in  support  of  the 
Administration  in  every  advancing  step  it  may  take  in  earnestness 
of  effort,  and  in  the  employment  of  every  means  justified  by  the  usages 
of  war.  [Cheers.] 

But,  above  all,  we  are  here  to  rekindle  the  half-slumbering  patriotism 
of  our  countrymen,  and  to  urge  them  to  respond  with  alacrity  to  the  call 
of  the  Government  for  additional  volunteers.  A  bitter  and  relentless  foe 
is  striking  at  its  vitals,  and  appealing  to  the  enemies  of  free  government 
everywhere  to  aid  in  the  unholy  work.  Their  efforts  will  fail  utterly  and 
hopelessly.  But  to  make  that  failure  quick,  sure,  and  overwhelming,  let 


20 

there  be  a  general  uprising  and  arming  throughout  the  loyal  States  ;  and 
let  this  be  followed  by  a  prompt  forward  movement  of  the  armies  of  the 
Union,  so  strong  and  irresistible  that  the  armed  traitors  will  be  quickly 
driven  to  choose  between  flight  and  unconditional  submission.  [Enthu- 
siastic cheering.] 

D.  D.  FIELD,  being  called  upon  by  the  Chair,  read  the  following 

ADDRESS,  t 
ADOPTED  AND  RECOMMENDED  BY  THE  CONVENTION  OF  COMMITTEES. 

The  war  in  which  the  United  States  are  engaged  is  not  a  war 
of  conquest,  but  purely  of  defence.  We  are  fighting  for  that 
which  we  received  from  our  fathers :  for  the  Union,  which  was 
freely  entered  into  by  all  the  parties  to  it ;  for  the  Constitution, 
which  is  older  than  this  generation,  which  was  made,  in  part,  by 
the  rebel  States,  and  which  every  rebel  leader  has  oftentimes 
sworn  to  support.  We  did  not  resist  till  our  forbearance  was 
imputed  to  pusillanimity ;  we  did  not  strike  till  we  had  been 
struck ;  and  when  we  took  up  arms,  we  sought  only  to  retake  that 
which  had  been  taken  from  us  by  force,  or  surrendered  by  an 
imbecile  or  traitorous  President  and  Cabinet. 

The  Rebellion  had  no  cause  or  pretext  which  was  even  plausible. 
Misgovernment  by  the  Federal  power  was  not  even  pretended, 
nor  any  just  apprehension  of  misgovernment,  for,  though  a  Presi- 
dent had  been  chosen  whose  opinions  were  hostile  to  the  extension 
of  Slavery,  the  other  departments  of  the  Government  were  so 
constituted  that  no  legislation  hostile  to  the  South  could  have 
been  perfected.  The  Rebels  revolted,  therefore,  against  a  Gov- 
ernment which  themselves  or  their  fathers  had,  of  their  free  choice, 
created  for  them,  whose  powers  they  had  generally  wielded,  and 
whose  offices  they  had  for  the  greater  part  filled. 

What  this  rebellion  was  for  is  declared  by  the  Constitution 
which  the  rebels  immediately  adopted  for  themselves,  and  to 
which  they  invited  the  adhesion  of  the  loyal  States.  That  instru- 
ment may  be  regarded  as  their  manifesto.  It  is  for  the  most  part 
a  copy  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  with  these  two 
important  additions — the  perpetual  servitude  of  the  African  race, 
and  the  inalienable  right  of  each  State  to  secede  from  the  rest 
at  will.  Slavery  and  secession  are  the  two  corner-stones  of  the 


21 

rebel  constitution,  the  differences  between  that  and  our  own,  and, 
of  course,  the  only  causes  and  objects  of  the  rebellion. 

Whoever,  therefore,  either  in  this  country,  or  in  Europe,  sym- 
pathizes with  the  rebels,  or  abets  them,  must  justify  the  taking  up  of 
arms  and  filling  the  land  with  distress  and  slaughter,  for  the 
establishment  of  the  perpetual  right  of  slavery,  and  the  perpetual 
right  of  secession.  The  bare  statement  of  the  proposition,  so  far 
as  slavery  is  concerned,  should  seem  to  be  a  sufficient  argument 
In  this  age  of  the  world,  under  the  influence  of  our  Christian 
civilization,  it  seems  incredible  that  any  set  of  men  should  dare 
to  proclaim  perpetual  human  servitude  as  a  fundamental  article  of 
their  social  compact,  or  that  any  other  man  should  be  found 
on  the  face  of  the  world  to  justify  or  even  to  tolerate  them.  In 
respect  to  the  assumed  right  of  secession,  the  argument  is  short 
and  conclusive.  Our  Constitution  established  a  Government  and 
not  a  league ;  that  was  its  purpose ;  the  aim  of  its  founders  to 
make  it  a  Government  indissoluble  and  immortal,  was  as  clearly 
expressed  in  the  language  of  the  instrument,  and  of  contempora- 
neous writings,  as  it  was  possible  to  express  it. 

That  man  must  be  most  ignorant  of  American  history  and  law, 
who  does  not  know  that  the  idea  of  a  league  or  partnership  is 
wholly  foreign  to  our  constitutional  system.  The  union  between 
England  and  Scotland  is  as  much  a  league  or  partnership,  as  the 
union  between  New- York  and  Virginia,  and  when  Englishmen 
talk  of  the  right  of  Virginia  to  self-government,  let  them  ask 
themselves  if  they  think  Scotland  has  a  right  to  secede  from  Eng- 
land at  will. 

So  much  for  the  legal  right — now  for  the  political  necessity. 
The  secession  of  Louisiana  and  Florida  from  Pennsylvania  and 
Ohio  can  no  more  be  admitted,  considered  as  a  question  of  policy 
alone,  than  could  the  secession  of  Wales  from  England,  or  Bur- 
gundy from  France  :  nay,  more,  it  would  be  possible  for  France  to 
exisi  as  a  powerful  empire,  without  a  foot  of  the  old  domain  of  the 
Burgundian  princes;  and  England  might  be  powerful  and  re- 
spected, though  the  Welsh  in  their  mountains  still  maintained  their 
independence.  But  such  is  the  shape  of  this  continent,  and  the 
net- work  of  waters  which  flow  through  the  Delta  of  the  Missis- 


22 

sippi  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  that  one  part  of  the  great  valley 
cannot  secede  from  the  other.  Providence  has  written  its  eternal 
decree  upon  the  rivers  and  mountains  of  our  continent,  that  the 
north-western  and  the  south-western  States  shall  be  forever  joined. 

But  if  it  were  possible  to  be  otherwise — if  several  independent 
communities,  without  any  national  tie,  could  exist  side  by  side  in 
the  great  basin  of  our  continent — they  would  be  rivals,  and  from 
rivals  would  become  enemies,  warring  with  each  other,  seeking 
foreign  alliances,  obstructing  each  other's  prosperity,  and  assailing 
each  other's  power.  The  great  experiment  of  Republican  Govern- 
ment would  have  failed  ;  an  experiment  depending  for  its  success 
upon  the  possibility  of  uniting  the  independent  action  of  separate 
States  in  respect  to  the  greater  number  of  the  functions  of  govern- 
ment, with  the  action  of  a  national  government  upon  all  matters 
of  common  concern. 

If,  as  we  believe,  the  fate  of  Republican  Government  in  America 
is  to  determine  whether  a  great  country  can  be  governed  by  any 
other  than  the  monarchical  form,  with  its  concomitants  of  privileged 
classes,  and  standing  armaments  ;  and,  of  course,  whether  this 
country  of  ours  is  to  continue  to  be  the  asylum  for  the  poor  and  the 
oppressed  of  all  countries ;  there  can  be  no  greater  question  presented 
to  any  people  than  that  now  presented  to  us  ;  none  in  which  the 
millions  of  this  continent,  and  of  Europe,  are  more  deeply  con- 
cerned. If  such  a  sacrifice  were  necessary,  the  thirty  millions  who 
now  inhabit  these  States  could  do  nothing  so  useful  or  sublime  as 
to  give  themselves  and  all  that  they  have,  that  they  might  leave 
this  broad  land  under  one  free,  indissoluble,  republican  govern- 
ment, opening  wide  its  arms  to  the  people  of  all  lands,  and  promis- 
ing happy  homes  to  hundreds  of  millions  for  scores  of  ages. 

We  are  persuaded  that  there  has  never  been  a  struggle  between 
authority  and  rebellion,  whose  issues  involved  more  of  good  or  ill 
to  the  human  race.  We  are  fighting  not  for  ourselves  alone,  but 
for  our  fellow-men,  and  for  the  millions  who  are  to  come  after  us. 
These  are  scenes  in  the  great  war  of  opinion,  which  began  before 
the  century  opened,  and  which  will  be  ended  only  when  it  shall 
be  decided  whether  government  is  for  the  few  or  the  many. 

We  do  not  war  with  monarchical  governments,  or  monarchical 


23 

principles.  They  may  be  the  best  for  some  countries.  The  Re- 
publican form  of  government  is  the  one  we  prefer  for  ourselves, 
and  for  that,  in  its  purity,  and  its  strength,  we  are  offering  up  our 
substance,  and  pouring  out  our  blood  like  water.  We  are  contend- 
ing for  that  scheme  of  government  for  which  Washington  and  the 
rest  of  the  Fathers  took  up  arms ;  for  the  integrity  of  our  country, 
for  our  national  existence,  for  the  Christian  civilization  of  our  land, 
for  our  commerce,  our  arts,  our  schools  ;  for  all  those  earthly  things 
which  we  have  been  taught  most  to  cherish  and  respect 

Such  being  the  magnitude  of  the  stake  in  this  contest,  can  it  be 
wondered  at,  that  we  feel  that  all  that  we  have,  and  all  that  we  can  do, 
should  be  given  to  our  country  in  this  its  great  hour  of  trial.  If 
there  be  a  man  among  us  who  does  not  feel  thus,  he  should 
leave  us.  We  cannot  endure  the  thought  of  a  traitor  in  the 
midst  of  us.  For  ourselves,  we  are  willing  to  make  every 
sacrifice  necessary  to  secure  the  triumph  of  the  Government.  It 
can  have  all  the  resources  of  twenty  millions  of  people.  All  we 
ask  of  it  is,  that  it  shall  use  them  quickly,  vigorously  and  wisely. 
Let  us  have  no  disunited  counsels,  no  uncertain  policy,  no  insuf- 
ficient armaments,  no  paltering  with  rebellion.  The  crisis  is  most 
serious  and  imminent.  The  nation  is  not  in  a  mood  for  trifling. 
It  believes  that  the  surest  means  of  suppressing  the  rebellion  are 
the  best.  It  complains  only  of  delays,  vacillation,  weakness.  li; 
wishes  the  strength  of  the  nation  to  be  collected,  and  when 
collected,  used,  so  that  not  a  vestige  of  revolt  remain.  We  know 
that  we  have  the  men  and  the  means ;  we  only  demand  of  the 
Government  that  it  do  what  it  is  bound  to  do,  use  them  with 
singleness  of  purpose,  with  well-considered  plan,,  under  the  lead 
of  the  wisest  counsel  and  the  most  skillful  command. 

This  rebellion  is  a  matter  between  ourselves  and  the  rebels. 
No  person  other  than  an  American  has  anything  to  do  with  it.  If 
another  intrudes  into  it,  we  must  regard  and  treat  him  as  an 
enemy.  And  if  any  foreign  Government,  forgetting  its  own 
duties,  attempts  to  interfere  in  our  affairs,  the  attempt  must  be 
repelled,  as  we  are  sure  it  will  be  repelled,  with  that  firmness  and 
spirit  which  become  the  American  people  and  their  representa- 
tives. If  there  be  anything  about  which  we  are  all  agreed,  it  is 


24 

the  wisdom  of  our  traditional  policy,  that  we  will  not  interfere  in 
the  affairs  of  other  nations,  nor  allow  their  interference  in  ours. 
To  the  maintenance  of  this  policy  the  nation  is  devoted,  and  the 
Government  can  count  on  the  unanimous  support  of  our  people. 

Forasmuch,  then,  as  the  actual  rebellion  and  the  possibility  of 
foreign  intervention  make  it  necessary  that  the  whole  loyal  people 
of  this  country  should  be  banded  together  as  one  man,  for  the 
defence  of  all  they  hold  most  dear,  we  here  pledge  ourselves  to 
each  other,  to  Congress,  and  to  the  President,  that,  with  all  our 
resources,  we  will  support  the  Government  in  the  prosecution  of 
this  war,  with  the  utmost  possible  vigor,  till  the  rebellion  is  utter- 
ly overcome,  and  its  leaders  brought  to  merited  punishment. 

The  Address  was  adopted  by  acclamation. 

JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS,  Jr.,  next  read  the  following 

KESOLUTIONS, 
ADOPTED  AND  RECOMMENDED  BY  THE  CONVENTION  OF  COMMITTEES. 

WHEREAS,  at  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  New- York,  convened 
on  the  20th  of  April,  1861,  it  was  resolved  to  support  the  Gov- 
ernment in  the  prosecution  of  the  war  then  opened  by  the  rebels, 
with  all  the  means  in  our  power ;  and  whereas,  nothing  has  since 
occurred  to  change  our  opinions,  or  our  determination  then  ex- 
pressed, but  everything  to  confirm  them;  and  whereas,  after  a 
series  of  successes  to  the  Federal  arms,  interrupted  only  by  a  few 
temporary  reverses,  the  casualties  of  war  have  reduced  the  effective 
strength  of  the  regiments  in  the  field,  so  that  recruits  are 
needed  to  fill  them  up  ;  and  whereas,  the  occupation  of  the  places 
repossessed  by.  our  army  requires  an  additional  force,  and  the 
President  has  called  for  three  hundred  thousand  men,  and  for  these 
reasons  another  meeting  of  citizens  has  been  called,  and  is  now 
assembled,  it  is  thereupon 

Resolved,  That  we  reaffirm  all  the  resolutions  of  the  meeting  of  April,  1861, 
hereby  declaring,  that  every  event  that  has  since  occurred  has  served  to' 
strengthen  the  convictions,  then  held,  of  the  wickedness  of  this  rebellion,  and  the 
duty  of  all  loyal  citizens  to  suppress  it  with  the  strong  hand,  and  at  all  hazards. 

Resolved,  That  this  war  is  waged  on  the  part  of  the  loyal  for  the  overthrow 
only  of  the  disloyal ;  that  we  seek  not  to  enforce  any  claims  or  to  establish  any 
privileges  beyond  those  given  us  by  the  Constitution  of  our  fathers  ;  and  our  only 


25 

aim  and  purpose  have  been,  and  are  now,  to  maintain  the  supremacy  of  that 
Constitution,  over  every  foot  of  soil  where  it  ever  bore  sway,  with  not  a  line  in- 
terpolated, or  a  line  erased. 

Resolved,  That  we  are  for  the  union  of  the  States,  the  integrity  of  the 
Country,  and  the  maintenance  of  this  Government,  without  any  condition  or 
qualification  whatever ;  and  we  will  stand  by  them  and  uphold  them,  under  all 
circumstances,  and  at  every  necessary  sacrifice  of  life  or  treasure. 

Resolved,  That  while  we  recognize,  and  will  sedulously  maintain,  the  rights 
of  each  State  under  the  Constitution,  we  abhor  and  repudiate  the  doctrine — fatal 
to  national  unity,  and  so  prolific  of  treason  in  the  army  and  navy,  and  among 
the  people— that  allegiance  is  due  to  the  State,  and  not  to  the  United  States  ; 
holding  it  as  a  cardinal  maxim,  that  to  the  United  States,  as  a  collective  Govern- 
ment, is  due  the  primary  allegiance  of  all  our  people  ;  and  that  any  State  or  con- 
federation of  States,  which  attempts  to  divert  it,  by  force  or  otherwise,  is  guilty 
of  the  greatest  of  crimes  against  humanity  and  our  National  Union. 

Resolved,  That  we  urge  upon  the  Government  the  exercise  of  its  utmost 
skill  and  vigor,  in  the  prosecution  of  this  war,  unity  of  design,  comprehensiveness 
of  plan,  a  uniform  policy  and  the  stringent  use  of  all  the  means  within  its 
reach,  consistent  with  the  usages  of  civilized  warfare. 

Resolved.  That  we  acknowledge  but  two  divisions  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  in  this  crisis  ;  those  who  are  loyal  to  its  constitution  and  every  inch  of  its 
soil,  and  are  ready  to  make  every  sacrifice  for  the  integrity  of  the  Union,  and  the 
maintenance  of  civil  liberty  within  it,  and  those  who  openly  or  covertly  endeavor 
to  sever  our  country,  or  to  yield  to  the  insolent  demand  of  its  enemies  ;  that  we 
fraternize  with  the  former,  and  detest  the  latter  ;  and  that,  forgetting  all  former 
party  names  and  distinctions,  we  call  upon  all  patriotic  citizens  to  rally  for  one 
undivided  country,  one  flag,  one  destiny. 

Resolved,  That  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  its  people,  with  an 
occasional  exception  among  the  reckless  inhabitants  where  this  rebellion  was  fos- 
tered, have  wisely  and  studiously  avoided  all  interference  with  the  concerns  of 
other  nations,  asking,  and  usually  enjoying,  a  like  non-interference  with  their 
own,  and  that  such  is,  and  should  continue  to  be,  its  policy  ;  that  the  intimations 
of  a  contemplated  departure  from  this  sound  rule  of  conduct  on  the  part  of  some 
of  the  nations  of  Europe,  by  an  intervention  in  our  present  struggle,  is  as  unjust 
to  them  as  it  would  be  to  us,  and  to  the  great  principles  for  which  we  are  con- 
tending ;  but  we  assure  them,  with  a  solemnity  of  conviction  which  admits  of  no 
distrust  or  fear,  and  from  a  knowledge  of,  and  a  firm  reliance  upon  the  spirit  and 
fortitude  of  twenty  millions  of  freemen,  that  any  attempt  thus  to  intervene,  will 
meet  a  resistance  unparalleled  in  its  force,  unconquerable  in  its  persistence,  and 
fatal  to  those  whom  it  is  intended  to  aid  ;  and  that  it  will  tend  only  to  strengthen 
and  elevate  the  Republic. 

Resolved,  That  the  skill,  bravery  and  endurance  exhibited  by  our  army  and 
navy,  have  elicited  our  admiration  and  gratitude  ;  that  we  behold  in  these  quali- 
ties the  assurances  of  sure  and  speedy  success  to  our  arms,  and  of  rout  and  dis- 
comfiture to  the  rebels ;  that  we  urge  the  Government  to  aid  and  strengthen 
them  by  all  the  means  in  its  power,  and  carefully  to  provide  for  sick,  wounded 
and  disabled  soldiers  and  their  families  ;  to  prosecute  the  war  with  increased 
vigor  and  energy,  until  the  rebellion  is  utterly  crushed,  the  integrity  of  the  Union 
in  all  its  borders  restored,  and  every  rebel  reduced  to  submission,  or  driven  from 
the  land  ;  and  that  to  accomplish  these  ends,  we  pledge  to  our  rulers,  our  faith, 
our  fortunes,  and  our  lives. 

4 


26 

Resolved,  That  we  approve  of  the  administration  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  of  the  measures  recommended  and  sanctioned  by  him  for  the 
prosecution  of  the  war,  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  and  the  welfare  of  the 
country  ;  that  we  sanction  as  wise  and  expedient  the  call  for  three  hundred 
thousand  more  troops,  and  earnestly  exhort  our  countrymen  to  rally  to  the 
standard  of  the  Union,  and  bear  it  aloft  until  it  shall  float  in  peace  and  security, 
and  be  everywhere  respected  and  honored. 

Resolved,  That  a  general  armament  is  required  by  every  consideration  of  policy 
and  safety,  and  the  Government  should  lose  no  time  in  filling  up  our  armies 
and  putting  the  whole  sea-coast  iu  a  state  of  complete  defence. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Common  Council  of  the  city  of 
New- York  to  offer  a  bounty  of  twenty-five  dollars  to  every  resident  of  the  city, 
who  shall  within  thirty  days  enlist  into  any  regiment  now  in  the  field. 

Which  were  unanimously  adopted. 

The  next  performance  was  the  singing  of  "  Our  Country  and 
her  Flag,"  composed  by  FRANCIS  LIEBER.  For  this  purpose 
thousands  of  copies  of  the  song  were  scattered  among  the  crowd, 
being  thrown  from  the  main  stand.  The  effect  of  this  song,  by  a 
full  chorus  of  manly  voices,  and  with  the  accompaniment  of  the 
band,  was  very  striking.  The  air  is  that  of  a  glorious  old  anthem. 

A    SONO 
ON  OUR  COUNTRY  AND  HER  FLAG. 

BY     FRANCIS     LIBBER. 

Sung  at  the  Meeting  of  Loyal  Citizens,  Union-  Square,  New-York,  July  15, 1862. 
TUNE — Gaudeamus  igitur. 

We  do  not  hate  our  enemy — 

May  God  deal  gently  with  us  all. 
We  love  our  land  ;  we  fight  her  foe  ; 

We  hate  his  cause,  and  that  must  fall. 

Our  country  is  a  goodly  land  ; 

We'll  keep  her  alway  whole  and  hale  ; 
We'll  love  her,  live  for  her  or  die  ; 

To  fall  for  her  is  not  to  fail. 

Our  Flag!  The  Red  shall  mean  the  blood 

We  gladly  pledge  ;  and  let  the  White 
Mean  purity  and  solemn  truth, 

Unsullied  justice,  sacred  right. 

Its  Blue,  the  sea  we  love  to  plow, 

That  laves  the  heaven-united  land, 
Between  the  Old  and  Older  World, 

From  strand,  o'er  mount  and  stream,  to  strand. 


27 

The  Blue  reflects  the  crowding  stars. 

Bright  Union-emblem  of  the  free  ; 
Come,  all  of  ye,  and  let  it  wave — 

That  floating  piece  of  poetry. 

Our  fathers  came  and  planted  fields, 

And  manly  Law,  and  schools  and  truth  ; 

They  planted  Self-Rule,  which  we'll  guard, 
By  word  and  sword,  in  age.  in  youth. 

Broad  Freedom  came  along  with  them 

On  History's  ever-widening  wings. 
Our  blessing  this,  our  task  and  toil ; 

For  "  arduous  are  all  noble  things." 

Let  Emp'ror  never  rule  this  land, 

Nor  fitful  Crowd,  nor  senseless  Pride. 
Our  Master  is  our  self-made  Law  ; 

To  him  we  bow,  and  none  beside. 

Then  sing  and  shout  for  our  free  land, 

For  glorious  FREKLAND'S  victory  ; 
Pray  that  in  turmoil  and  in  peace 

FREELAND  our  land  may  ever  be  ; 

That  faithful  we  be  found,  and  strong, 

When  History  builds  as  corals  build, 
Or  when  she  rears  her  granite  walls — 

Her  moles  with  crimson  mortar  filled. 

The  Chairman  introduced  Hon.  CHARLES  KING,  who  was  wel- 
comed with  enthusiastic  applause. 

SPEECH  OF  THE  HON.  CHAS.  KING,  LL.  I). 

FELLOW-CITIZENS, — You  see  before  you  a  man  for  many  years  with- 
drawn by  the  nature  of  his  pursuits  from  all  political  affairs,  but  yet  with 
a  heart  that  beats  as  warmly  toward  the  interest,  and  welfare,  and  honor  of 
the  country,  as  the  youngest  in  this  vast  concourse.  [Cheers.]  I  come 
before  you,  therefore,  to  speak  in  behalf  of  a  cause  common  to  every 
American  heart.  We  are  here  to-day  to  co-operate  in  putting  down  the 
most  wicked,  wanton,  causeless  rebellion  that  ever  offended  the  justice  of 
God  or  stained  the  annals  of  man.  [Applause.]  We  have  been  called 
upon  by  those  in  authority  to  send  forth  new  regiments  to  the  field,  and 
recruits  to  the  old  regiments  whom  the  fortune  of  war  has  decimated, 
and  we  come  together  now  to  pledge  ourselves,  that  so  far  as  each  one 
of  us  is  concerned,  those  men  shall  not  be  wanting,  and  those  regiments 
shall  be  filled  up.  Can  there  be  a  more  sacred  cause  than  this  ?  Can 
anything  appeal  more  strongly  to  our  interests,  our  feelings,  our  honor, 
our  patriotism,  than  this?'  Can  we  submit  to  the  shame  and  degrada- 
tion of  permitting  our  sons  and  our  brothers  who  have  gone  forth  at 
their  country's  call,  to  stand  exposed  and  unaided,  to  be  cut  down  and 
decimated  by  the  enemy,  while  we  are  calmly  carrying  on  our  daily  avo- 


28 

cations  at  home  ?  [Cries  of  "  No,  No."]  Surely  not ;  it  cannot  be  ! 
[Cries  of  "Never!  Never!1']  Let  us  resolve  here,  once  for  all,  that  we 
will  support  our  brothers  in  the  field — that  we  will  put  everything  at 
hazard  to  conquer  the  Rebellion  and  re-establish  the  Union.  [Cheers.] 
We  have  heretofore  lacked  in  earnestness  of  purpose  in  the  conduct  of 
the  war.  We  have  dealt  too  mildly  with  those  whom  but  a  little  while 
ago  we  regarded  as  our  friends.  They  are  no  longer  friends,  but  deadly 
enemies.  They  make  war  in  earnest.  They  omit  no  means  of  strength- 
ening their  hands  and  weakening  ours.  Ihey  fight  with  no  remem- 
brance that  we  were  once  brothers.  Why,  then,  should  we  remember 
it  ?  They  fight  us  like  incarnate  fiends  ;  let  us,  at  least,  meet  them  as  our 
deadliest  foes.  [Applause.]  Let  us  now  go  forth  and  make  the  war  as 
fierce  and  bloody  as  it  is  possible  for  a  civilized  nation  to  make  it.  No 
moderation  is  shown  to  us  ;  let  us  show  none  to  them.  We  are  far  more 
powerful  in  numbers,  and  better  prepared  than  our  enemies.  We  have 
heretofore  acted  too  much  on  the  defensive  ;  let  us  now  act  on  the  offen- 
sive. [Cheers.]  Let  us  henceforth  strike  rapid  and  constant  blows — 
blows  that  shall  tell.  Let  us  no  longer  hear  that  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac is  "  safe."  Safe  !  Great  God  !  The  army  should  be  triumphant. 
[Loud  applause.]  We  have  no  criticism  to  make.  I  only  speak  com- 
mon-sense when  I  say  that  war  is  a  fierce  game  ;  that  they  only  prevail 
who  wage  it  in  earnest.  War  cannot  be  waged  in  silken  gloves.  When 
we  send  forth  our  armies,  it  must  be  understood  that  they  go  to  battle. 

Gentlemen,  I  speak  to  you  as  a  citizen  of  New- York,  older  than  any  one 
that  I  look  upon  here,  quite  as  much  interested  in  everything  that  concerns 
the  city  and  the  country  as  any  of  you.  Indeed,  I  have  done  almost  every- 
thing that  a  man  of  my  age  can  do  to  give  success  to  the  war.  I  have  sent 
sons  and  grandsons  to  it,  and  I  am  ready,  if  necessary,  to  go  myself  [Loud 
cheers.]  And  I  promise  you  that  neither  of  those  sons  will  ever  dishonor 
the  name  he  bears  or  the  education  he  received.  [Cheers.]  They  are 
false  friends  and  pernicious  counselors  who,  in  so  great  a  cause  as  this, 
would  interpose  side  issues,  and  would  seek  to  advance  mean  and  misera- 
ble personal  or  party  aims  and  ambitions,  by  sowing  the  seeds  of  discord 
and  jealousy  among  our  public  men,  whether  in  civil  or  military  life.  Let 
all  such  discussion — all  intermediate  questions  or  discussion^  which  of 
necessity  must  be  subordinate  to  the  great  and  vital  question  of  our  Na- 
tional existence,  which  is  now  in  the  debate  of  arms — be  postponed  till 
the  battle  is  won.  Then  there  will  be  a  great  nation — calm  in  conscious 
strength,  to  judge  and  to  determine  all  political  questions.  Now,  let  there 
be  only  a  nation  of  soldiers,  resolved  upon  trampling  treason  in  the  dust, 
and  eager  and  earnest  for  aggressive  war.  Aggressive,  I  repeat,  in  every 
form  that  the  laws  of  war  permit.  Now  our  armies  in  the  field  are  made 
the  special  guardians  for  the  benefit  of  rebel  women  and  children — of  the 
property  which  the  husbands  and  fathers  have  abandoned  in  order  to  join 
the  rebel  army — and  upon  many  a  bloody  field  our  wounded  and  dying 
have  been  obliged  to  put  up  with  such  wayside  fare  and  nourishment  as 
the  chance  of  battle  left  for  them,  while  hard  by,  rebel  houses,  and  rebel 
gardens,  and  rebel  granaries,  abounding  in  comforts  which  might  have 
saved  life,  and  certainly  would  have  mitigated  suffering,  are  sacredly 
guarded  by  our  troops  for  the  benefit  of  the  rebel  families.  This  may  be 
magnanimous,  but  it  is  not  war.  I  would  have  all  this  changed.  [Cheers.] 


29 

I  am  for  the  war  in  its  fiercest  form — always  and  in  all  things,  however, 
having  regard  to  our  own  character  and  superior  civilization.  [Applause.] 
Our  antagonists  claim  that  they  are  the  muster  race,  and,  as  such,  entitled 
to  rule  the  land  and  give  law  to  the  baser  sort,  whom,  as  by  one  general 
term  of  reproach,  they  stigmatize  as  Yankee.  This  claim  of  superiority, 
indeed,  was  announced  in  a  recent  article  of  one  of  the  leading  newspa- 
pers in  Richmond,  as  among  the  determining  causes  of  this  rebellion.  We 
of  the  North,  it  was  said,  confident  in  our  numbers  and  wealth,  seemed 
to  forget  that  we  were  an  inferior  race,  and  to  be  disposed  to  throw  off 
the  yoke  of  the  chivalry,  and  set  up  for  ourselves ;  and  thence  the  neces- 
sity, it  was  argued,  that  the  master  race  should  assert  its  supremacy,  and 
bring  us  back  to  wonted  submissiveness.  The  Yankee  must  be  made  to 
take  off  his  hat  when  in  the  presence  of  a  Southern  gentleman  !  Perhaps 
so  !  But  before  that  lesson  is  learned,  a  good  many  Southern  heads  will 
fall.  Why,  in  every  element  that  constitutes  true  manhood — in  physical 
power,  in  educated  mind,  in  religious  instruction,  in  habits  of  self-com- 
mand, in  the  dignity  of  bread-winning  industry,  in  the  knowledge  of  his 
own  rights,  and  in  respect  for  the  rights  of  others — in  all  that  constitutes 
a  man  and  a  citizen — the  Northern  race  is  far,  very  far,  superior  to  the 
Southern  race.  [Cheers.]  With  this  moral  and  physical  superiority,  how 
can  it  be  otherwise  than  that,  admitting  equal  courage  on  both  sides,  (and 
that  is  a  generous  concession  to  the  South,)  with  our  great  preponder- 
ance of  numbers,  we  must,  when  once  fairly  aroused,  effectually  subdue 
them  ?  [Cheers  ] 

We  are  to  listen  to  no  talk  of  compromise,  of  negotiation,  and,  least  of 
all,  of  foreign  mediation.  Compromise  of  what  ?  Our  right  to  exist  as  a 
nation  ?  for  that  is  the  whole  question.  Negotiation  with  whom  ?  Rebels 
in  arms,  traitors  that  have  struck  at  the  bosom  of  our  common  mother ! 
And  who  among  us  would  listen  for  an  instant  to  mediation  on  the  part  of 
either  France  or  England  ?  [Loud  cheers,  and  cries  of  "  No  one !"]  Under 
what  pretence  of  right  shall  either  of  those  nations,  or  both  together,  ven- 
ture to  interfere  in  our  domestic  quarrel  ?  It  is  an  offensive  assumption 
of  European  superiority  which  we  will  not  brook.  We  are  a  people  of 
ourselves,  and  by  ourselves — competent  to  manage  our  own  affairs,  without 
the  aid  or  counsel  of  others — owing  allegiance  to  God — but  none  to  any 
earthly  powers — and  thoroughly  resolved  to  submit  to  no  dictation  or 
intervention  from  any  such  powers. 

No,  friends,  this  is  no  time  for  parley,  for  negotiation,  for  half-way 
measures  of  any  sort.  The  people  are  far  ahead  of  the  Government. 
They  are  in  earnest,  and  will  not  be  paltered  with  ;  they  mean  to  put 
down  the  rebellion,  and  to  punish  the  traitors  with  the  most  condign 
punishment.  They  have  a  policy,  whoever  else  may  lack  one.  They 
mean  war,  in  earnest,  and  they  mean  that  war  deals  with  men  only  as 
friends  and  as  enemies.  [Applause.]  It  has  no  cognizance  of  political 
questions,  of  social  institutions  ;  it  deals  plainly  and  directly  with  men, 
and  the  only  question  it  asks  of  them,  without  regarding  race  or  color, 
is,  "  Are  you  for  us  or  against  us  ?"  If  for  us,  come  and  help  ;  if  against 
us,  we  shall  know  how  to  deal  with  you.  This  is  war,  according  to  com- 
mon-sense and  universal  usage.  A  general  in  the  field  is  bound  to  suc- 
ceed, and  in  order  to  that  to  use  all  lawful  means  conducive  to  success. 
He  may  take  the  life — none  deny  that — of  the  enemy.  Shall  he,  then. 


30 

hesitate   about  taking   his   property  whenever   and  wherever  it  can  be 
useful  to  his  own  force  ?     [Cheers.] 

He  may  seize  his  crops,  his  cattle,  and  why  not  his  slaves?  What 
right  has  a  general  in  the  field  to  expose  our  sons  and  our  brothers  to 
the  horrors  of  unequal  war,  when  thousands  stand  ready  to  help  him  if 
he  will  only  say  the  word  ?  A  general  in  the  field  knows  nothing  of 
slavery — that  is  a  political  and  social  question,  with  which  it  is  none  of 
his  business  to  deal.  He  has  to  do  only  with  the  means  of  successfully 
prosecuting  war,  and  wherever  these  means  are  to  be  found  he  must  use  them. 
This  is  so  plain,  that  but  for  the  prejudice  of  color  none  would  hesitate 
about  it ;  and  yet  it  is  not  conceivable  that  the  existence,  possibly,  of  this 
great  Continental  Republic,  the  lives  of  our  sons  and  brothers,  should 
depend  upon  a  question  of  complexion.  If  the  issue  be  between  the  pre- 
servation of  the  Union  and  the  preservation  of  slavery,  who  shall  hesi- 
tate ?  It  may,  indeed,  be — who  shall  say  that  it  is  not  ? — within  the  in- 
scrutable purposes  of  Providence  that,  whereas  all  this  great  disaster  and 
crime  arises  from  slavery  and  the  disappointed,  mad  ambition  of  slave- 
holding  leaders,  the  result  of  this  dire  conflict  shall  be  the  total  extinc- 
tion of  the  great  evil  which  has  thus  culminated  in  the  greater  crime  of 
rebellion  ? 

But  of  that  I  am  not  here  to  speak.  All  I  urge  is,  that  in  the  war  to 
the  death  we  use  all  the  means  which,  according  to  all  the  usage  of 
civilized  war,  we  are  entitled  to  use  ;  and  that  while  our  adversaries  stop 
at  no  expedients  to  strengthen  their  hands,  we  shall  not  weaken  ours  by 
halt-way,  halting,  mean  and  miserable  hesitations. 

See  to  it,  you  my  friends ;  let  us  all,  individually  and  collectively,  see 
to  it  that  henceforth  the  lightning's  flash  shall  tell  of  assault,  of  battle, 
of  victory — of  the  enemy  overthrown  and  subdued — of  our  old  and 
honored  flag  restored  in  all  its  amplitude  to  every  contested  point 
throughout  the  land — of  treason  vanquished,  and  of  the  Union  reaffirmed 
and  consolidated.  Men  of  New-York,  this  you  can  greatly  help  to  do. 
Fail  not,  then,  as  you  value  your  peace  on  earth,  your  hopes  of  Heaven.' 
[Prolonged  applause.] 

After  music  by  the  band,  WM.  Boss  WALLACE  spoke,  \\iih 
thrilling  and  dramatic  effect,  an  ode  prepared  by  him  for  the 
occasion.  The  following  is  the 

ODE 

BY    WILLIAM    ROSS    WALLACK. 

Keep  step  with  the  music  of  Union, 

The  music  our  ancestors  sung. 
When  States,  like  a  jubilant  chorus, 

To  beautiful  sisterhood  sprung  ! 
0 !  thus  shall  their  great  Constitution, 

That  guards  all  the  honus  of  the  land. 
A  mountain  of  freedom  and  justice. 

For  millions  eternally  stand. 

Xorth  and  South,  East  and  West,  all  unfurl* n« 

ONE  Jlanner  alotie  o'er  the  sod, 
OXK  voice  from  America,  swelling 

In  worship  of  Liberty's  God  ' 


31 

Keep  step  with  the  music  of  Union, 

What  grandeur  its  flag  has  unrolled — 
For  the  loyal,  a  star-lighted  Heaven, 

For  traitors,  a  storm  in  each  fold  ! 
The  glorious  shade  of  Mount  Vernon 

Still  points  to  each  patriot's  grave, 
Still  cries — "  O'er  the  long  mighty  ages 

That  Eagle  of  Lexington  wave." 

North  and  South,  East  and  West,  fyc. 

Keep  step  with  the  music  of  Union,  * 

The  forests  have  sunk  at  the  sound, 
The  pioneer's  brows  been  with  triumph 

And  Labor's  broad  opulence  crowned  ; 
Oh  !  yet  must  all  giant  rude  forces 

Of  Nature  be  chained  to  our  cars — 
All  mountains,  lakes,  rivers  and  oceans 

Crouch  under  the  Stripes  and  the  Stars. 

North  and  South,  East  and  West,  fyc. 

Keep  step  with  the  music  of  Union, 

Thus  still  shall  we  nourish  the  light 
Our  fathers  lit  for  the  chained  nations 

That  darkle  in  Tyranny's  night ! 
The  blood  of  the  whole  world  is  with  us, 

O'er  ocean  by  Tyranny  hurled, 
And  they  who  would  dare  to  insult  us 

Shall  sink  with  the  wrath  of  the  world. 

North  and  South,  East  and  West,  fyc. 

Keep  step-with  the  music  of  Union, 

All  traitors  shall  fall  at  our  march, 
But  patriots  bask  in  the  blessing 

Flashed  down  from  yon  heavenly  arch ! 
Then  hurrah  for  the  Past  with  its  glory  ! 

For  the  strong,  earnest  Present,  hurrah  ! 
And  a  cheer  for  the  starry  browed  Future 

With  Freedom,  and  Virtue,  and  Law. 

Nortli,  and  South,  East  and  West  all  unfurling 

ONE  Banner  alone  o'er  the  sod, 
ONE  voice  from  America  swelling 

In  worship  of  Liberty's  God  .' 

SPEECH  OF  GEN.  HIEAM  WALBRIDGE. 

Gen.  WALBRIDGE  was  then  introduced,  by  his  Honor  the  Mayor ; 
who  observed,  in  presenting  him,  that  he  would  present  to  them  their 
distinguished  fellow-citizen,  who  as  early  as  April,  1861,  was  in 
favor  of  calling,  at  once,  six  hundred  thousand  men  to  suppress 
the  rebellion.  Gen.  WALBRIDGE  said  : — 

MR.  MAYOR,  FRIENDS  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS  : 

Fourteen  months  ago,  from  this  very  platform,  the  city  of  New- York, 
in  the  presence  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  loyal  citizens,  declared  that 
she  would  not  sit  tamely  by  and  behold  a  wicked,  reckless,  malignant 


32 

minority  consummate  the  overthrow  and  ruin  of  the  only  representative 
constitutional  Government  on  earth.  When  she  fixed  this  determination, 
and  announced  her  will,  eleven  rebellious  States  had  attempted  to  sever 
their  connection  with  the  Federal  Government ;  had  torn  from  the  forts, 
arsenals,  magazines  and  harbors  within  their  limits  the  banner  of  the  con- 
stitutional Union.  This  reckless,  rampant  treason,  though  long  threat- 
ened, took  the  civilized  world  by  surprise ;  and,  as  the  conspirators  by 
thousands  poured  their  murderous  hail  of  shot  and  shell  upon  that  thirsty, 
half-famished  garrison  at  Fort  Sumter,  with  its  seventy  exhausted  but 
loyal  men,  they  little  realized  that  throughout  the  whole  Christian  world 
they  were  calling  silently  into  exercise  forces  wholly  beyond  human 
control ;  for  that  man  must  be  an  atheist,  or  have  no  soul,  who  does  not 
realize,  that  since  that  first  event  God  himself  has  been  manifest  in  the 
moral  and  political  phenomena  which  this  great,  loyal  nation  now  pre- 
sents, and  statesmen,  and  philosophers,  and  generals,  will  begin  to  reason 
right  and  act  right,  when  they  realize  this  great  truth.  The  establishment 
of  free  institutions  on  this  continent  toward  ameliorating  the  condition  of 
the  human  race,  was  second  to  the  inauguration  of  the  Christian  religion, 
and  their  dismemberment  and  overthrow  is  reserved  only  to  Jehovah 
himself. 

Fellow-citizens,  when  last  we  met  here,  on  the  occasion  to  which  I 
have  referred,  bold,  rank,  audacious  treason  pervaded  almost  every 
department  of  the  Federal  service.  Army,  navy,  embassadors  to  foreign 
courts,  collectors  of  customs,  postmasters,  the  very  defences  at  Wash- 
ington, limited  as  they  were,  could  not  then  be  relied  upon.  The  nation 
trembled  for  the  satety  of  the  national  capital ;  the  personal  safety  of 
the  President  was  endangered  even  in  the  Executive  mansion.  Consterna- 
tion and  despair  briefly  ruled  the  hour.  How  stands  the  matter  now  ? 
The  capital  is  secured  ;  the  rebels  are  trembling  for  Charleston,  Savannah, 
and  their  entire  coast,  while  we  have  New  Orleans  and  Nashville. 
Delaware,  Maryland,  Kentucky,  and  Missouri,  then  on  the  verge  of 
rebellion,  are  secured;  Virginia,  then  completely  in  the  grasp  of  the 
rebels,  has  become  loyal  in  the  greater  portion  of  her  territorial  extent. 
Over  eight  hundred  thousand  troops  have  been  called  into  the  field, 
armed,  equipped,  and  provided,  equal  to  any  army  ever  before  called  into 
service ;  a  navy,  like  Pallas,  from  the  brain  of  Jove,  seems  to  have 
sprung  at  once  into  complete  existence ;  three  thousand  miles  of  coast 
have  been  blockaded,  and  a  landing  has  been  effected  upon  the  soil  of 
that  pestiferous  State,  which  first  instigated  and  finally  produced  this 
wicked  rebellion.  I  would  that  we  could  here  have  first  made  our 
terrible  visitation  of  the  power  and  resources  of  the  Federal  Government 
in  quelling  the  treason,  firmly  believing,  had  that  been  done,  the  border 
States  would  never  have  hesitated  in  their  allegiance.  Twenty  millions 
of  people  are  on  the  one  side,  backed  by  the  consciousness  they  are 
contending  for  the  integrity  and  maintenance  of  the  Government  from 
which  they  have  achieved  greatness  and  commanded  respect  throughout 
the  world.  Eight  millions  of  rebels  oppose  them.  The  grounds  of 
the  contest  are  clearly  defined — treason,  revolt  and  anarchy  are  on 
the  one  side ;  liberty,  security  and  prosperity  on  the  other.  Great 
as  is  the  disparity  in  wealth  and  numbers,  the  traitors  thus  far  have 
maintained  the  unequal  contest.  But  the  end  is  not  yet.  An  additional 


300,000  troops  have  been  called  into  requisition  by  our  exigencies.  This 
patriotic  action  of  the  Government  must  be  sustained,  traitors  at  home 
must  be  punished,  spies  and  informers  must  be  annihilated,  the  Union 
must  be  preserved,  and  condign  punishment  afterward  inflicted  upon  all 
who  have  taken  this  period  in  our  history  to  fatten  upon  the  misfortunes 
of  the  Republic.  A  broad  and  beneficent  statesmanship  must  be  adopted, 
and  the  policy  of  the  Government  must  be  borne  upon  our  victorious 
standards  as  they  advance  into  the  rebel  territory.  That  policy  should 
be  broad,  national  and  statesmanlike ;  but  it  should  be  so  rapid,  so 
powerful,  so  wise,  and  so  energetic,  that  the  national  life  will  survive,  and 
the  authority  of  the  Constitution  in  the  rebellious  States  be  recognized,  if 
to  accomplish  it  every  existing  institution,  order,  monopoly,  or  privilege, 
should  be  swept  before  our  advancing  hosts.  Rights  should  be  recognized, 
privileges  discarded,  and  the  authority  of  the  United  States  floating  again 
over  its  former  territorial  limits,  its  flag  everywhere  emblazoned  in 
characters  of  living  light — "  The  Union,  it  must  and  shall  be  preserved." 
It  is  to  be  seriously  deplored  that  at  this  juncture  our  fears  are  appealed 
to  lest  the  proportions  of  this  contest  shall  be  largely  augmented  by 
some  efforts  at  intervention  from  foreign  powers,  which  may  result  in 
collision  in  our  present  domestic  dissensions.  From  the  first  dawning  of 
our  domestic  dissensions  the  governing  class  in  England  have  desired, 
not  their  repression,  but  their  increase,  and  have  actively  sympathized 
with  these  internal  traitors  to  dismember  our  Government.  They  thus 
hope  to  render  the  people  of  North  America  as  impotent  to  oppose  their 
political  and  commercial  domination  as  similar  domestic  contentions 
have  already  reduced  the  people  of  the  South  American  Republics. 
Hence  at  the  very  commencement  of  the  rebellion  the  English  ministry 
made  haste  to  recognize  the  rebels  as  belligerents,  and  to  place  them  on 
the  same  level  as  the  Government  against  which  they  had  rebelled. 
Intervene  to  make  peace  !  Intervention  will  deluge  the  earth  with  blood. 
This  country  cannot  be  dismembered  but  by  subjugation,  amid  seas  of 
blood  and  oceans  of  flame.  Never.  England  and  France  combined, 
with  what  is  left  of  the  rebels,  cannot  subjugate  and  dismember  the  United 
States.  In  such  an  atrocious  attempt  every  lover  of  liberty  and  fair 
dealing  in  Europe  will  be  our  friend ;  every  hater  of  British  tyranny 
will  be  our  friend ;  every  hater  of  Napoleon  will  be  our  friend ; 
the  Pope  would  rejoice  to  see  the  end  of  a  dynasty  which  seeks 
his  degradation ;  Venice  would  find  herself  a  part  of  Italy,  and 
Austria  would  find  a  compensation  in  exemption  from  future  dangers  on 
the  Rhine,  and  in  a  division  with  Russia  of  the  "  sick  man's  estate." 
Intervene  for  humanity  !  Transparent  falsehood  !  The  United  States 
will  neither  be  subjugated  or  dismembered  while  the  loyal  American 
people  remain  true  to  their  Revolutionary  origin.  But  as  becomes  wise 
and  practical  men,  we  should  closely  examine  the  means  of  assault  and 
the  means  of  defence  if  this  burden  should  be  forced  upon  us ;  and  here 
again  we  shall  witness  abundant  opportunity  for  confidence  and  hope.  It 
is  i'air  to  assume,  should  intervention  ever  come,  the  two  Western  powers 
of  France  and  England  will  act  in  unison,  as  they  did  in  the  Crimean 
war,  and  as  they  have  recently  co-operated  with  Spain  by  intervening 
with  the  internal  affairs  of  Mexico.  These  two  powers  combined  possess 
a  large  army.  If  undisturbed,  in  from  eight  to  nine  months,  by  gigantic 


34 

efforts  and  at  vast  cost,  they  might  ferry  across  the  Atlantic  from  240,- 
000  to  275,000  soldiers,  with  all  their  armaments  and  supplies.  This 
would,  however,  be  doing  far  more  than  they  were  able  to  do  in  the 
Crimean  war,  though  largely  aided  by  American  steam  transport  ships. 
At  no  time  in  the  year  can  they  in  one  voyage  readily  transport  100,000 
soldiers,  and  the  immense  amount  of  necessary  arms  and  supplies.  Even 
if  able  to  shelter  their  soldiers  till  the  last  detachment  arrives,  and  all 
move  together,  some  nine  or  ten  mouths  after  hostilities  should  arise  they 
would  stand  in  the  presence  of  disciplined  troops  twice  as  numerous  as 
themselves — in  the  presence  of  troops  who  have  fought  far  more  battles 
against  resolute  troops  than  themselves — a  few  thousand  French  troops 
alone  excepted. 

The  American  troops — regiment  for  regiment — six  months  from  to- 
day, will  be  as  well  drilled,  m  better  condition  and  practice,  will  have 
seen  more  active  service  and  as  many  battles,  and  will  be  better  armed, 
than  the  regiments  to  which  they  will  stand  opposed,  and  will  be  more 
than  twice  as  numerous.  Their  next  means  of  assault  consists  in  vessels 
of  war — numerous  and  powerful — and,  in  addition,  the  English  have 
constructed  canals  from  the  St.  Lawrence  into  the  great  chain  of  Ameri- 
can lakes,  to  enable  them  to  convey  gun-boats  into  these  waters.  We 
have  no  such  connection  with  the  ocean.  They  can  transport  their  gun- 
boats among  our  commercial  vessels,  and  in  front  of  our  interior  cities, 
along  a  lake  coast  of  more  than  two  thousand  miles,  unopposed.  We 
have  nothing  at  this  time — absolutely  nothing — with  which  to  oppose 
them  on  these  great  inland  seas.  But,  per  contra,  we  have  to-day  more 
armored  vessels — genuine  iron-clad — than  both  France  and  England. 
That  much  good  has  come  out  of  this  evil  rebellion.  In  a  few  weeks — 
not  months — we  shall  be  able  to  teach  the  English,  if  they  demand  it  of 
us,  a  new  version  of  the  naval  lessons  of  1812.  Six  or  eight  of  our 
armored  vessels  can  readily  destroy  the  entire  unarmored  fleet  of  Eng- 
land. We  shall  soon  have  afloat  iron-clad  vessels,  armed  with  carefully 
tested  ordnance,  carrying  elongated  projectiles  with  "  punch  points,"  of 
four  hundred  and  eighty  pounds,  fully  competent — first,  to  resist  the  con- 
centrated fire  of  the  Warrior,  aided  by  the  La  Gloire,  A  apoleon's  largest 
iron-clad  ship  ;  and  second,  by  the  use  of  shot  alone  to  sink  both  of  them, 
should  they  come  within  its  range.  We  now  have  on  hand  the  tested 
ordnance  competent  to  speedily  destroy  any  vessel  yet  armored  by  any 
nation.  Our  iron-clads  are  the  most  numerous  at  this  time,  and  cannot 
be  exceeded  prior  to  January  or  February  next.  The  English  troops  are 
dispersed  all  over  the  world  to  guard  isolated  colonies  Her  available 
troops  cannot  be  massed  to  an  amount  of  eighty  thousand ;  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  if  she  had  them,  would  not  be  troublesome 
to  a  powerful  nation,  possessing  from  800,000  to  1,000,000  of  troops 
already  called  to  the  field  ;  and  the  French  army,  once  shut  on  shipboard, 
even  if  convoyed  by  the  whole  English  and  French  fleet,  could  not  in  an 
ordinarily  fair  fight  escape  destruction.  A  single  conflict  between  an 
English  or  a  French  iron-clad  and  one  of  our  far  more  heavily  armed 
iron-clads  will  settle  that  question.  The  result  will  be  so  decisive  as  to 
admit  of  no  mistake,  if  there  is  any  virtue  in  ordnance  throwing  projec- 
tiles four  times  heavier  than  any  approved  gun  with  which  any  English 
or  French  vessel  is  now  armed.  Let  us  examine  our  means  of  defence. 
Of  course,  before  going  into  battle,  a  soldier  puts  on  his  armor  ;  when  a 


35 

man  leaves  home  he  locks  the  doors  of  his  house.  So  a  nation  going  to 
war  with  a  naval  enemy,  will,  at  an  early  day,  carefully  lock  the  mouths  of 
all  those  valuable  harbors,  inlets,  sounds,  and  rivers,  which  have  narrow 
entrances,  and  thus  lessen  the  home  duties  of  the  fleet,  as  well  as  furnish 
a  place  of  refuge  when  disabled  by  storms,  or  pressed  by  superior  force. 
The  mode  of  obstructing  entrances  to  harbors,  so  as  to  effectually  secure 
them,  and  yet  allow  of  a  passage  of  a  friendly  ship  with  but  little  hind- 
rance, is  pointed  out  with  great  clearness  by  the  Board  of  Engineers  in  a 
report  made  to  the  Secretary  of  War  in  1840.  The  obstruction  can  be 
created  in  the  entrance  to  a  harbor  like  that  of  NTew-York  in  probably 
two  or  three  days.  The  whole  British  navy  could  not  force  a  passage 
through  the  entrance,  without  first  removing  the  obstruction  ;  and  the  ob- 
struction could  be  removed  by  an  enemy  only  after  the  silencing-  of  the 
forts  under  the  command  of  whose  guns  it  is  placed.  Having  taken  steps 
to  carefully  secure  the  most  important  entrance  by  temporary  obstruc- 
tions and  by  heavily  armed  forts,  let  us  promptly  provide  an  interior 
water  communication  between  our  chief  cities,  parallel  with  our  Atlantic 
coast,  and  having  numerous  communications  with  it  at  protected  points. 
This  has  been  frequently  recommended  by  the  Board  of  Engineers  as  a 
work  of  vast  military  importance.  In  April  last,  the  Military  Committee 
of  Congress,  in  an  able  report,  demonstrated  how  this  object  could  be 
speedily  and  cheaply  accomplished,  viz. :  By  enlarging  the  locks  of  three 
short  canals,  of  an  aggregate  length  of  only  78^  miles.  A  vessel  enter- 
ing the  sound  of  North  Carolina,  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  can  proceed 
by  way  of  the  Dismal  Swamp  Canal  (22  miles  lon^)  to  Norfolk ;  then 
passing  up  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  communicating  with  both  Washington 
and  Baltimore,  if  desirable,  it  can  sail  into  the  Delaware  River  through  a 
canal  only  13^  miles  long;  after  communicating  with  the  great  city  of 
Philadelphia,  it  could  sail  directly  into  New- York  harbor,  by  passing 
through  the  Delaware  and  Raritan  Canal,  a  distance  of  43  miles,  and 
thence  proceed  up  the  East  River,  140  miles,  to  New  London,  before  going 
to  sea.  Here  is  an  inland  communication  between  almost  all  of  our  lead- 
ing ports  and  cities  along  the  maritime  front  of  the  populous  and  power- 
ful States  of  Connecticut,  New-York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Dela- 
ware, Maryland, Virginia,  and  North  Carolina — a  distance  of  nearly  1,000 
miles,  and  having  many  facile  and  easily  protected  outlets  to  the  sea. 
Suitable  timber  locks,  capable  of  passing  large  war  vessels,  can  be  made 
ready  for  use,  in  a  case  of  pressing  emergency,  in  from  twenty  to  twenty- 
five  days.  The  Government  has  ample  legal  authority  to  make  this  great 
improvement,  if  a  military  necessity.  As  it  is,  let  it  be  done,  and  in  such 
a  manner  that  we  can  easily  concentrate  large  ships  at  any  desirable  har- 
bor to  resist  any  invasion,  when  the  telegraph  shall  announce  the  dis- 
asters or  separations  wrought  on  the  enemy's  fleet  by  storms  or  by  our 
returning  squadrons.  The  engineers  strongly  recommend  this  double 
coast  line  as  a  remarkable  military  advantage  possessed  by  neither  Eng- 
land nor  France.  Our  own  sense  tells  us  that  if  a  ship  or  ships  of  war 
or  commerce  should  be  blockaded  in  a  harbor,  and  thus  prevented  from 
going  to  sea,  the  evil  would  be  lessened  if  the  harbor  was  connected,  by 
a  safe  and  unexposed  interior  channel,  with  all  the  harbors  on  the  coast 
for  a  thousand  miles — so  also  a  blockade  of  one  harbor  could  be  broken 
up,  by  quietly  concentrating  in  it  a  superior  force  drawn  from  the  other 
harbors  connected  with  it  by  the  interior  channel. 


36 

Let  us  also  earnestly  request  the  Government  to  aid  in  opening  the 
communication  for  our  iron  gun-boats  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Hudson, 
the  Delaware  and  St.  Lawrence.  Then  in  the  event  of  war,  our  iron-clad 
ships  from  the  West,  through  the  loyal  States,  could  sail  directly  into 
the  lakes,  proceed  to  the  head  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  protect  the 
crossing  of  an  army  sufficiently  powerful  to  command  that  river  as  low 
down  as  Montreal,  and  thus  prevent  a  single  British  soldier  from  pene- 
trating the  interior.  This  accomplished,  what  amount  of  opposition 
could  the  unaided  and  defenseless  Canadians  make  to  our  Western 
troops  ?  The  navigable  waters  of  Canada  secured,  this  inland  fleet  could 
forthwith  repair  to  the  aid  of  our  defences  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson. 
A  period  of  from  ten  to  twenty  days  would  place  them  at  either  point. 
In  thirty  days,  in  despite  of  the  utmost  efforts  of  England,  the  United 
States  could  control  the  upper  St.  Lawrence  and  the  whole  chain  of 
lakes,  for  they  have  no  iron-clads  competent  to  navigate  those  waters, 
and  to  meet  our  superb  Western  iron-clad  fleet,  with  its  11,  13  and  15 
inch  guns.  Since  the  inauguration  upon  the  waters  of  the  Chesapeake, 
of  a  new  era  in  the  art  of  naval  warfare,  we  have  placed  our  country  at 
the  head  of  naval  powers  in  effective  strength,  and  the  mechanical  force 
of  the  country,  for  the  time  being,  should  be  called  into  requisition  in 
enlarging  and  strengthening  the  navy ;  and  the  comprehensive  policy 
should  be  adopted  of  allowing  the  merchant  marine  to  aid  in  its  own 
defence  by  its  incorporation  into  a  militia  navy,  under  proper  laws  and 
restrictions.  We  ought  now  to  commence,  and  complete  within  six 
months,  a  heavy  fleet  of  iron-clads  of  superior  speed,  and  at  least  twice 
the  capacity  of  the  Monitor :  and  of  the  three  millions  of  enrolled 
militia  in  the  loyal  States,  with  one  million  in  the  field,  we  may  confi- 
dently anticipate  bringing  this  infamous  Rebellion  to  a  triumphant  close. 
With  such  an  army  and  navy,  with  the  forts  armed  with  the  modern  im- 
proved ordnance  of  large  calibre  ;  with  the  valuable  inlets  to  harbors, 
roadsteads  and  soundsj  skillfully  obstructed  ;  with  an  interior  water  com- 
munication between  the  several  ports  and  harbors  on  the  Atlantic,  so  as 
to  make  it  safe  and  convenient  to  speedily  pass  a  fleet  from  one  to  another 
entirely  beyond  the  observation  of  any  enemy  lying  off  a  fort ;  with  a 
navigable  communication  between  New-York  bay  and  the  lakes,  ami 
between  the  lakes  and  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans,  that  would  allow  of  a 
movement  of  the  whole  fleet  from  New  Orleans  to  New- York,  or  from 
New- York  to  New  Orleans,  by  an  inland  route  free  from  danger  and  ob- 
servation, surely  we  can  maintain  our  national  unity  and  our  national 
honor.  But  I  must  draw  these  remarks  to  a  close.  New-York  again  to- 
day, as  at  the  beginning  of  the  struggle,  demonstrates  that  she  is  still 
loyal  to  the  Government  and  the  Constitution.  She  feels  the  deepest 
sympathy  for  the  martyred  dead,  who  have  fallen  in  defence  of  constitu- 
tional, well-regulated  liberty.  As  the  tidings  of  this  great  gathering  are 
borne  throughout  the  loyal  camps,  it  will  animate  the  heart  and  nerve  the 
arm  of  our  brave  and  intrepid  soldiers.  In  behalf  of  that  immense  army 
of  privates,  who  have  left  home  and  kindred  and  friends,  to  meet  the 
traitors  striking  at  the  heart  of  the  nation,  and  who  never  mean  to 
abandon  this  contest  until  the  old  flag  again  floats  over  every  inch  of  our 
original  territorial  limit,  I  ask  you  to  send  them  the  cheering  words  of 
your  hearty  commendation. 


37 

Gen.  WALBRIDGE  was  cheered  throughout  most  enthusiasti- 
cally, and  as  he  was  concluding,  said  he  had  prepared  some 
resolutions,  which  he  would  read  and  if  they  met  the  approval 
of  this  vast,  intelligent  and  patriotic  assemblage,  he  would  request 
the  MAYOR  to  ask  for  their  adoption.  As  Gen.  WALBRIDGE  read 
each  one,  cheer  after  cheer  welcomed  them,  and  when  the  last 
was  concluded,  the  whole  vast  assemblage  gave  one  unbroken 
and  hearty  Yea.  The  MAYOR  then  formally  offered  them  again, 
when  they  were  carried,  amidst  the  most  tumultuous  and  enthu- 
siastic applause. 

Resolved,  That  the  territorial  limits  of  the  United  States,  as  they  existed  before 
this  infamous  rebellion  began,  and  the  Constitution  which  guarantees  their  ex- 
istence, should  forever  remain  one,  entire,  united  and  indivisible. 

Resolved,  That  the  division  of  the  former,  and  the  overthrow  of  the  latter1 
would  constitute  a  damning  crime  to  all  eternity. 

Resolved,  That  as  the  blood  of  our  slaughtered  citizen  soldiers,  fallen  in  de- 
fence of  constitutional  liberty,  cries  to  Heaven  for  redress,  we  declare  that,  to 
suppress  this  Rebellion  and  save  the  national  life,  the  Government  should  call 
into  exercise  every  agency  employed  by  the  Rebels  themselves  to  make  the  war 
effective,  conclusive  and  of  short  duration. 

Resolved,  That  we  tender  to  our  unfortunate  countrymen,  now  languishing  by 
captivity  in  Southern  prisons,  our  earnest  and  cordial  sympathy,  and  we  beseech- 
ingly implore  the  Government  to  effect  their  honorable  exchange  and  release  at 
the  earliest  possible  moment. 

Resolved,  That  since  integrity  by  public  servants  in  the  discharge  of  official 
duty  is  the  only  guaranty  for  good  government,  we  call  upon  Congress  to  give  the 
authority,  and  the  Government  to  execute  it,  by  hanging  upon  a  gibbet  higher 
than  ever  Hainan  hung,  every  official  in  any  department  of  the  public  service, 
who  attempts  at  this  juncture  of  our  public  affairs  to  fatten  upon  the  misfortunes 
of  the  Republic,  either  by  defrauding  the  public  Treasury,  employing  his  public 
position  to  advance  private  pecuniary  objects,  or  who  shall  be  found  guilty  of  im- 
posing upon  our  brave  soldiers  any  base  article  either  in  the  food  or  raiment 
provided  for  them  by  the  Government. 

Resolved,  That  Congress  should  provide  for  opening  the  great  line  of  interior 
water  communication  along  our  Atlantic  coast,  capable  of  passing  our  naval 
fleet  and  our  commercial  marine  from  the  waters  of  the  Roanoke  and  Chesapeake 
Bay  to  the  eastern  terminus  of  Long  Island,  and  should  at  once  open  the  means 
of  internal  communication,  by  which  our  gun-boats  can  pass  from  the  Mississippi 
through  the  loyal  States,  by  the  various  canals  and  lakes,  until  they  reach  the 
Atlantic  sea-board,  by  the  most  cheap  and  expeditious  routes  that  scientific  and 
practical  knowledge  may  develop. 

Resolved,  That  our  commercial  marine,  now  largely  in  advance  of  any  other 
nation,  should  be  so  organized  as  to  aid  in  the  means  of  its  own  defence,  and  that 
it  is  the  duty  of  Congress  to  provide  for  this  by  incorporating  a  portion  of  the 
same  into  a  "  Militia  of  the  Seas,"  and  thus  inaugurate  a  new  element  of  Nation- 
al strength  and  defence,  commensurate  with  our  growing  importance  as  a  great 
leading  maritime  power. 


38 

Resolved,  That  steadily  pursuing  the  wise  pob'cy  of  our  fathers,  we  never  mean 
to  interfere  in  the  internal  conflicts  of  foreign  States,  but  here,  beneath  this  out- 
stretched sky,  in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God,  and  of  one  another,  we  pledge 
our  lives,  our  fortunes,  and  our  sacred  honor,  never  to  abandon  this  struggle 
while  there  remains  a  traitor  in  the  land ;  and  that  any  armed  intervention  by 
any  foreign  power  in  our  present  domestic  affliction,  shall  prove  the  signal  for 
the  spirit  of  Liberty  to  commence  its  triumphant  march  through  Europe. 

On  the  part  of  the  Chairman,  Mr.  JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS,  Jr., 
announced  the  following  resolution,  which  was  unanimously 
adopted : 

Resolved,  That  this  meeting  cordially  unites  in  recommending  to  the  Governor 
and  Legislature  of  this  State,  to  take  the  earliest  means  of  pledging  the  State  to 
the  payment  of  an  additional  bounty  to  volunteers. 

The  Star-Spangled  Banner  was  then  sung  by  the  chorus  and 
band,  thousands  of  voices  joining  in  the  stirring  refrain. 

Mr.  DUNN  was  next  introduced,  and  after  a  few  preliminary 
and  patriotic  remarks,  read  a  poem,  from  which  the  following  is 
an  extract : 

Only  once  in  every  lifetime  comes  the  hour  for  man  to  prove 

The  depth,  the  truth,  the  earnestness  of  patriotic  love  : 

Only  once  iu  every  lifetime  comes  the  people  thrilling  jar 

That  purifies  the  nation  in  the  crucible  of  war  ; 

Which  vindicates  the  honor  of  the  Truth  and  proves  the  might 

Of  the  never-thwarted  purpose  which  is  founded  in  the  right. 

And  God  will  safely  guard  the  man  and  make  him  doubly  strong, 

Who  battles  in  the  cause  of  Right  against  the  cause  of  VVrong. 

To  the  camp-enshrined  Potomac,  to  its  blood-stained,  throbbing  strand, 

Points  the  plain,  unerring  finger  of  God's  invocating  hand, 

And  I  hear  the  thrilling  voices  of  the  martyrs,  one  by  one, 

Saying,  "  FREKMEN  !  On  to  glory,  while  there's  labor  to  be  done  .'" 

And  can  I  stand  here  idle  while  I  hear  my  country's  call  ? 

While  I  see  the  gloom  of  treason  'round  the  Union's  temple  fall  ? 

No  !  I'll  grasp  the  sword  of  duty,  and  move  onward  in  the  van. 

To  the  deeds  which  bless  THE  AGES  and  uphold  the  RIGHTS  OF  MAN  ! 

SPEECH  OF  EX-SEXATOR  SPIXOLA. 

Ex-Senator  SPINOLA,  having  been  introduced  to  the  meeting,  on 
coming  forward  was  warmly  received.  He  said  : — 

I  did  not  come  here  this  day  to  mate  a  speech  to  you.  No,  I  come 
for  a  nobler  purpose  and  a  more  important  object.  I  come  to  ask  you 
to  join  with  me.  (Hear,  and  applause.)  The  hour  has  arrived  when  it 
becomes  the  duty  of  every  American  citizen  to  buckle  on  his  armor  and 
go  forward  to  the  fight.  (Loud  cheers.)  I  have  now,  since  our  last 
glorious  meeting  in  this  place,  witnessed  the  progress  of  this  wretched 
rebellion,  and  my  only  regret  is  that  a  sufficient  force  was  not  then  at 


39 

once  raised  to  drive  the  fomenters  of  it  out  of  the  country,  and  forever  to 
keep  it  down.  You  are  once  more  again  gathered  together  in  a  great 
mass  meeting  to  frustrate  its  future  progress,  and  I  call  upon  you  to  do 
your  duty  to  your  country  in  this  the  hour  of  her  peril.  (Applause,  and 
cries  of  "  We  shall  do  so.")  There  were  those  who,  at  the  last  great 
mass  meeting  of  New- York,  were  pretended  friends  to  the  Union,  but 
who,  I  regret  to  state,  as  matters  have  since  turned  out,  were  the  vilest 
snakes  of  treason.  (Hear,  and  loud  cheers.)  Let  our  Northern  States 
fall  into  Southern  hands — let  them  sway  the  destinies  of  this  mighty  and 
world-famed  republic — and  if  ever  the  day  should  arise  when  such  a  state 
of  things  should  happen,  not  even  man,  woman  or  child  would  receive 
the  slightest  mercy  at  the  hands  of  those  Southern  rebels.  (Cries  of 
"  That's  true — go  on,  Spinola.")  Give  them,  I  say,  the  upper  hand,  and 
the  people  of  the  North  will  soon  feel  the  effects  of  Southern  steel.  But 
let  them  come  on — I  ask  them  to  do  so  ;  and  if  we  have  the  real  princi- 
ples of  freedom  at  heart,  we  shall  soon  teach  them  what  virtue  is  in 
Northern  arms.  (Applause.)  There  is  another  great  consideration  in 
which  we  are  all  deeply  interested.  Let  the  South  be  successful  and  the 
North  will  not  only  have  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  rebellion,  but  to  live 
in  thralldom  under  their  bloody  sceptre.  (Hear,  hear.)  As  I  said  at  the 
commencement  of  these  remarks,  I  told  you  that  I  wished  you  to  join 
with  me  in  endeavoring  to  crush  this  awful  rebellion.  (Cries  of  ''  And 
so  we  will.")  I  have  already  determined,  as  you  all  know,  to  bear  my 
humble  part  in  this  war,  and  in  crushing  the  rebellion.  I  shall  do  so  ;  and 
should  I  meet  with  or  discover  any  poor  Southern  wretch  peculating  the 
property  of  our  gallant  Northern  troops,  I  will  not  go  to  the  trouble  of 
gibbeting  him,  but  he  shall  suffer  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  (Applause.) 
In  connecting  myself  with  the  great  Union  army,  I  promise  that  the  men 
whom  I  may  be  appointed  to  command  shall  receive  my  best  attention. 
In  the  hour  of  danger  and  also  of  sickness  I  hope  to  stand  by  them,  and 
to  see  that  their  wants  are  well  cared  for.  Their  wounds  shall  be  skill- 
fully attended  to.  (Loud  cheers.)  I  look  upon  these  duties  as  incumbent 
upon  every  commander  to  considerately  carry  out.  Let  us  recollect  those 
great  men  who  gave  us  this  government,  and  if  we  do  we  cannot  but  re- 
spect their  memories.  We  are,  the  most  of  us,  well  acquainted  with 
what  they  passed  through.  This  should  stimulate  us  in  fighting  hard  in 
defence  of  the  great  Constitution  which  they  formed  on  so  permanent  a 
basis.  We  are  a  well  equipped  body  of  men  ;  our  military  reputation 
cannot  be  excelled,  and  we  are  the  best  men  in  arms  in  the  world.  (Loud 
cheering.)  I  am  now  raising  a  brigade  to  join  the  great  army  of  the 
North,  and  before  long  I  hope  that  I  shall  be  ready  to  head  th:;t  brigade 
to  the  glorious  battle-field.  (Hear,  hear.)  After  a  few  other  remarks  the 
ex-senator  concluded  his  address  by  calling  on  those  present,  who  felt  a 
desire  to  join  his  brigade,  at  once  to  do  so.  He  said :  I  promise  them 
every  indulgence  and  encouragement,  and  so  long  as  they  fight  under  one 
flag — the  glorious  flag  of  the  Union — they  shall  be  secured  in  these. 
(Great  applause.) 


40 

MR.  BANYARD'S  ADDRESS. 
Mr.  BANVARD  was  next  introduced  to  the  meeting,  and  said  : — 

PATRIOTIC  FELLOW-CITIZENS, — I  want  to  let  you  know  that  I  have 
some  knowledge  of  secession,  and  shall  crave  your  indulgence  for  only  a 
short  time.  Humphrey  Marshall,  of  Kentucky,  happened  to  move  up 
with  ten  thousand  men,  but  he  was  not  long  until  he  moved  down  again. 
(Loud  cheers  and  laughter.)  I  know  him  personally,  and  I  have  very 
little  to  say  in  his  favor,  only  that  he  soon  discovered  his  mistake  and 
did  not  make  a  second  attempt.  (Loud  cheers.)  I  know  the  spirit  of 
secession  well,  and  have  seen  its  workings.  I  have  no  hesitation  what- 
ever in  declaring  that  its  object  is  to  uproot  the  principles  of  free  govern- 
ment in  this  country,  which  have  been  so  securely  established  by  the  first 
founders  of  that  glorious,  happy,  and  free  Constitution.  (Loud  cheers ) 
Would  time  permit  I  could  enter  more  into  detail,  but  shall  content  my- 
self with  these  few  remarks. 

The  proceedings  were  here  closed,  and  the  meeting  adjourned. 


OFFICERS. 


STAND    No.    a. 

Under  charge  of  Committee  of  Arrangements, 
PEOSPEE  M.  WETMOEE.  SAMUEL  SLOAN. 

President. 

PELATIAH  PEErr,  President  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce. 


Vice-Presidents. 


EOYAL  PHELPS, 
A.  A.  Low, 
JOHN  A.  STEVENS, 
JOHN  C.  GREEN, 
EGBERT  B.  MINTCRN, 
JOHN  D.  WOLFE, 
JAMES  W.  OTIS, 
HENRY  J.  RAYMOND, 
T.  H.  FAILE, 
JAMES  G.  KINO, 
JOSEPH  W.  ALSOP, 
MOSES  TAYLOR, 
BENJAMIN  E.  WINTHROP, 
JAMES  GALLATIN, 
WILLIAM  A.  BOOTH, 
SHEPHERD  KNAPP, 
E.  A.  WITTHAUS, 

E.  E.  MORGAN, 
EGBERT  L.  KENNEDY, 
EICHARD  W.  WESTON, 
MANTON  MARBLE, 

J.  SMITH  HOMANS, 
W.  W.  DE  FOREST, 
WILSON  G.  HUNT. 
SAMUEL  D.  BABCOCK, 
HENRY  F.  VAIL, 
H.  W.  T.  MALI, 
JACOB  HERRICK, 
CHARLES  KING, 
JOHN  S.  GILES, 
M.  MARBLE, 
JOSIAH  SUTHERLAND, 
EDWIN  J.  BROWN, 

F.  SCHROEDLER, 

W.  H.  LEONARD, 
FREDERICK  A.  CQE, 


JOHN  JACOB  ASTOR,  Jr., 
HENRY  A.  .HURLBUT, 
FRANCIS  W.  SKIDDY, 
WILLARD  PARKER, 
SAMUEL  T.  SKIDMORE, 
WILLIAM  C.  OILMAN, 
E.  Y.  HAUGHWOUT, 
WILLIAM  WATSON, 
J).  T.  INGRAHAM, 
JOHN  RAYMOND, 
PHILIP  DATER,  Jr., 
SAMUEL  P.  WILLIAMS, 
GEORGE  BLISS,  Jr., 
U.  A.  MURDOCK, 
JNO.  L.  HASBROUCK, 
GEO.  W.  BRAINERD, 
AUSTIN  L.  SANDS, 
LEMUEL  W.  HOPKINS, 
SAMUEL  B.  WHITE, 
MOSES  M.  LAIRD, 
GEORGE  0.  TOTTEN, 
NATHAN  KINGSLEY, 
CHESTER  A.  ARTHUR, 
JOHN  HEWETT, 
WILLIAM  B.  TAYLOR, 
JAMES  EENWICK,  Jr., 
JAMES  A.  EOOSETELT, 
BENJ.  ARNOLD, 
JACOB  NEVINS, 
WILLIAM  J.  CORWIN, 

LUCIUS  TUCKERMAN, 

JOSEPH  P.  VARNUM,  Jr., 
WILLIAM  B.  HOFFMAN, 
DAVID  MILLER, 
D.  C.  HAYES, 
EUGENE  KETELTAS, 


42 


ALFRED  COLVILL, 
ABRAHAM  M.  COZZENS, 
THEODORE  L.  MASON, 
R.  D  HITCHCOCK, 
JOHN  H.  SWIFT, 
GEO.  CLARK, 
A.  B.  HAYS, 
JAMES  OLIVER, 
ALBERT  SPEYERS, 
ANDREW  MATHEWS, 
ROBERT  L.  MC!NTYRE, 
JOHN  WARREN, 
PAUL  S.  FORBES, 
TIMOTHY  G.  CHURCHILL, 
E.  CAYLUS, 
ROBERT  S.  HONE. 
RICHARD  D.  LATHROP, 
WILLIAM  HALL, 


DANIEL  B.  FEARING, 
CHARLES  A.  BRISTED, 
JUSTUS  DILL, 
JAMES  B.  TAYLOR, 
GEORGE  OSGOOD, 
CHARLES  E.  BEEBE, 
EDWARD  MINTURN, 
CHAS.  L.  TIFFANY, 
GEORGE  S.  PARKER, 
GEORGE  ANTHON, 
JAMES  GERARD, 
WILLIAM  KELLOCK, 
OSCAR  COLES, 
SAMUEL  D.  BRADFORD, 
F.  S.  LATHROP, 
JOSEPH  LEE, 
JAMES  UDALL, 
HAMILTON  BRUCE. 


Secretaries. 


EDWARD  C.  BOGERT, 
J.  SMITH  HOMANS,  Jr., 
HENRY  I.  BARBEY, 
GEORGE  D.  LYMAN, 
IRVING  GRINNELL, 
WILLIAM  E.  DODGE,  Jr., 
WILLIAM  H.  GRENELLK, 
WALKER  BURNS, 
J.  HOWARD  WILLIAMS, 
ANDREW  WARNER, 
FRANK  SHEPHERD, 
Louis  BELLONI,  Jr., 
JOHN  H.  DRAPER, 


TEMPLE  PRIME, 
BLEECKER  OOTHOUT. 
GEO.  WILSON, 
EDWARD  WILLETS, 
FRANK  OTIS, 
WASHINGTON  COSTER, 
DAVID  BISHOP, 
ANDREW  H.  SANDS, 
JOHN  W.  MINTURN, 
HENRY  KETELTAS, 
JOSEPH  P.  NORRIS,  Jr., 
EDWARD  S.  RENWICK. 


PROGRAMME  OF  PROCEEDINGS. 


STAND   No. 


SALUTES  OF  ARTILLERY  by  ANTHON  LIGHT  BATTERY  and  by 
the  WORKMEN  employed  by  HENRY  BREWSTER  &  Co. 

1.  Music — Grand  March. 

2.  PROSPER  M.  WETMORE  will  call  the  meeting  to  order,  read  the 
CALL  FOR  THE  MEETING,  and  conduct  to  the  Chair  PELATIAH 
PERIT,  President  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

3.  A.  C.  RICHARDS  will  read  the  List  of  Vice-Presidents  and 

Secretaries. 

4.  PELATIAH  PERIT,  Chairman,  will  address  the  Meeting. 

5.  CHARLES  H.  RUSSELL   will  read  the  ADDRESS  adopted  by 
the  Convention  of  Committees. 

6.  SAMUEL  D.  BABCOCK  will  read  the  RESOLUTIONS  adopted  by 
the  Convention  of  Committees. 

7.  Music— Volunteer  Chorus,  by  HENRY  CAMP  and  FRIENDS,— 

Star-Spangled  Banner. 

8.  Rev.  FRANCIS  VINTON  will  address  the  Meeting, 

9.  Music — Volunteer  Songs — Grod  Speed  the  Right, 

10.  CHARLES  P.  DALY  will  address  the  Meeting. 

11.  Music — Hail  Columbia. 

12.  DAVID  S.  CODDINGTON  will  address  the  Meeting 


44 

Mr.  PROSPER  M.  WETMORE  called  the  meeting  to  order,  read 
the  call  for  the  meeting,  and  also  the  following  letter  from  Mr. 
PELATIAH  PEJIIT,  who  had  been  designated  by  the  Committee 
of  arrangements  to  preside  over  the  stand. 

LETTER  OF  P.  PERIT. 

NEW  HAVEN,  July  14th,  1862. 
John  A.  Stevens,  Jr.,  Esq.,  Secretary  Chamber  of  Commerce,  N.  Y.  : 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  been  favored  to-day  with  your  telegraphic  note  of  this 
date  informing  me  that  I  have  been  appointed  to  preside  at  the  stand  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  at  the  public  meeting  to  be  held  to-morrow. 

Having  been  confined  to  my  bed  by  sickness  since  my  return  from  New-York, 
1  am  quite  unable  to  proceed  to  the  city,  and  shall  thus  be  prevented  from  tak- 
ing part  in  the  great  demonstration. 

That  the  meeting  will  be  large  and  enthusiastic,  I  cannot  doubt,  and  I  trust  it 
will  be  as  powerful  in  its'  influence  for  good  as  was  that  which  followed  the  at- 
tack on  Sumter. 

I  shall  be  present  with  you  in  feeling  though  not  in  person. 

Very  truly,  yours, 

P.  PERIT. 

Mr.  WETMORE  nominated  for  Chairman  Mr.  A.  A.  Low,  second 
Vice-President  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  who  was  unani- 
mously elected. 

Mr.  A.  C.  EICHARDS  read  the  list  of  Vice-Presidents  and  Sec- 
retaries which  had  been  prepared  by  the  Committee,  and  which 
was  adopted  with  unanimity. 

ADDRESS  OF  A.  A.  LOW,  ESQ. 

FELLOW-CITIZENS, — I  share  with  you  in  your  regret  that  the  much  re- 
spected gentleman,  who  was  expected  to  preside  over  this  meeting,  is 
prevented  by  illness  from  being  present.  The  honor  naturally  belonged 
to  one  who  has,  so  often,  by  his  cheering  presence,  imparted  grace  and 
dignity  to  our  public  gatherings ;  and  I  know  with  what  pleasure  he  has 
answered  every  expectation  when  the  interests  of  this  community  have 
been  involved. 

In  the  absence  of  Mr.  PERIT,  to  whom  I  have  just  referred,  and  in  the 
absence  of  the  first  Vice-President  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  it  de- 
volves upon  me,  in  obedience  to  your  vote,  to  announce  the  object  of  this 
meeting. 

Indeed,  it  needs  no  announcement.  There  is  but  one  call  that  brings 
together  men  of  all  parties,  of  all  professions,  and  of  every  name.  It  is 
the  call  of  our  country.  The  existing  emergency  is  too  well  understood 
to  require  any  labored  explanations.  Your  response  to  the  summons 
which  has  brought  you  here  has  been  too  hearty  and  enthusiastic  to  war- 
rant a  passionate  appeal  to  your  patriotism. 


45 

In  this  great  metropolis  of  the  Union,  in  this  Square,  consecrated  to 
the  Union,  by  the  great  pledges  recorded  here  a  year  ago  in  April,  it  is 
especially  meet  that,  at  this  critical  juncture,  men  of  all  parties  should 
assemble  once  more  and  unite  in  a  fresh  resolve  to  support  the  Constitu- 
tion and  the  Union ;  to  sustain  the  Chief  Executive  of  the  nation ;  to  give 
a  new  impulse  to  the  popular  mind  ;  to  manifest  by  word  and  by  deed 
an  unalterable  determination  to  sustain  the  great  cause  for  which 
such  sacrifices  have  been  made— for  which  so  much  blood  has  been 
shed. 

For  more  than  a  year  one  great  burden  has  rested  upon  every  loyal 
heart.  Your  most  anxious  thoughts  for  yourselves  and  for  your  children 
have  centered  upon  our  country,  convulsed  by  civil  war,  and  still  doomed 
to  suffer.  Your  brightest  hopes,  your  most  glorious  anticipations  have  all 
been  directed  to  the  re-establishment  of  this  great  Republic,  in  its  full  and 
magnificent  proportions.  For  this,  brave  men  have  fought,  and  good 
men  have  prayed. 

Through  all  discouragements,  and  through  all  reverses,  this  has  been 
the  undeviating  purpose,  the  unfaltering  trust  of  good  and  true  men.  To 
see  the  people  of  the  United  States,  from  North  to  South  and  East  to 
West,  bound  together  once  more  by  a  common  interest  and  a  common 
love  in  our  vast  brotherhood,  has  been  the  paramount  desire,  the  ardent 
prayer  of  every  true  patriot. 

Touch  your  throbbing  hearts,  and  tell  me  if  this  be  not  so ;  if,  through 
all  the  anxious  and  eventful  scenes  of  our  great  national  struggle,  supe- 
rior to  every  fear,  one  hope  has  not  predominated  all  other  hopes — the 
ever  ardent  aspiration  that  our  country  may  survive  its  fiery  trial — may 
soon  issue  forth  triumphantly,  "both  purified  and  glorified!"  That  this 
last  experiment  of  man  to  found  and  sustain  a  Republican  government, 
whose  standard  is  the  symbol  of  civil  and  religious  freedom,  may  become 
an  unquestioned  success ;  and  that  these  United  States,  increasing  in 
number  and  growing  in  grandeur,  may  continue  to  be  the  asylum  of  the 
oppressed,  the  admiration  of  all  lovers  of  liberty,  the  fear  of  all  the  foes 
of  freedom  throughout  the  world. 

During  the  great  crisis  which  has  so  tasked  the  energies  of  the  whole 
country,  the  city  of  New- York  has  poured  forth  in  unmeasured  flow 
her  money  and  her  men,  answering  every  requisition  with  an  unstinted 
hand.  True  to  the  inspirations  of  her  extended  commerce,  her  contribu- 
tions to  the  finances  of  the  country  have  been  generous  and  bountiful. 
The  merchants  of  this  city  know  too  well  the  value  of  free  and  uninter- 
rupted intercourse  with  every  section  of  the  Union,  of  open  ports  and 
navigable  rivers,  to  be  indifferent  to  the  issues  of  this  great  controversy, 
did  not  a  more  worthy  patriotism  prompt  to  the  largest  sacrifices  for  the 
attainment  of  the  noblest  ends. 

Your  presence  here  to-day,  in  answer  to  the  call,  so  hastily  promul- 
gated, shows  that  you  are  alive  to  the  importance  of  the  crisis ;  that  no- 
thing will  be  wanting  on  your  part  which  may  be  asked  of  loyal  and 
intelligent  men  that  is  conducive  to  an  honorable  adjustment  of  our  Na- 
tional difficulties ;  that  you  appreciate  the  magnitude  of  the  effort  still  to 
be  made ;  and  that  you  are  prepared  for  every  sacrifice  that  duty  en- 
joins, that  patriotism  dictates. 

The  Committee  of  Arrangements  have  caused  an  Address  to  be  pre- 


46 

pared,  which  will  now  be  read  to  you ;  and  a  series  of  Resolutions  will  be 
submitted  for  your  consideration. 

I  shall  presently  have  the  honor  of  introducing  several  distinguished 
citizens,  who  have  been  invited  to  enforce  these  resolutions  by  their  elo- 
quent words. 

Mr.  SAMUEL  SLOAN  read  the  Address  adopted  by  the  Con- 
vention of  Committees,  which  was  deceived  with  great  applause. 

Mr.  A.  C.  EICHARDS  read  the  Resolutions  adopted  by  the  Con- 
vention of  Committees  which  were  accepted  with  cheers. 

JUDGE  DALY'S  ADDKESS. 

The  Chairman  then  introduced  Hon.  CHARLES  P.  DALY,  First 
Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas,  who  was  received  with  applause. 
He  said : — 

When  two  parts  of  a  great  nation  have  divided,  and  are  arrayed  in 
open  war  against  each  other,  it  is  a  waste  of  time  to  dwell  upon  the 
causes  that  have  produced  it.  Having  thrown  all  other  considerations 
aside,  and  grappled  together  in  mortal  strife,  nothing  remains  then  but 
to  determine  which  of  the  two  will  be  compelled  to  yield.  [Cheers.] 
There  was  a  time  when  mediation  and  compromise  were  possible.  It  has 
passed,  and  it  is  of  no  consequence  now  who  are  responsible  for  the 
neglect  or  opposition  by  which  that  opportunity  was  lost.  He  that 
supposes  that  the  South  would  listen  to  any  terms  of  settlement  now, 
except  such  as  it  is  impossible  for  the  North  to  grant,  is  a  political 
dreamer.  Nothing  can  be  done  now  except  what  is  done  by  military 
means.  The  South  has  taken  its  position,  and  it  will  not  recede  from  it 
unless  it  is  compelled  to.  Whatever  Union  sentiment  may  have  existed 
there,  it  is  crushed  out,  and  there  is  nothing  apparent  there  now  but 
sympathetic  unanimity  and  a  dogged  determination  to  persist  in  the 
course  they  have  taken.  Whatever  doubt,  hesitation  or  difference  of 
opinion  may  have  prevailed  at  first,  the  sentiment  is  now  universal  that 
they  have  gone  so  far  that  they  cannot  go  back  ;  that  they  must  now  go 
on,  whatever  may  be  the  consequence  or  the  sacrifice.  Everything  with 
them,  then,  is  reduced  to  a  question  of  endurance,  and  the  sooner  we 
wake  up  to  the  consciousness  of  this  state  of  facts,  the  more  fully  will  we 
comprehend  our  own  position  and  the  obligations  and  duties  that  are 
imposed  upon  us.  [Cheers.]  Leaving  out  of  view  the  political  dif- 
ferences which  may  have  incited  and  led  to  this  war,  what  is  it  that  the 
South  have  determined  with  such  great  unanimity  to  do,  and  which  the 
North,  with  equal  unanimity,  have  determined  to  resist  ?  Constituting 
but  little  more  than  one  third  of  the  population  of  the  whole  country, 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Southern  States  have  determined  to  seize  the 
largest  part  of  our  territory,  geographically ;  to  appropriate  to  themselves 
nearly  the  whole  of  our  sea-coast,  and  the  mouths  of  nearly  all  our 
principal  rivers — and  construct  out  of  it  a  foreign  nation.  Of  the  eighty- 


47 

four  rivers  which,  descending  through  a  common  territory,  find  their  way 
to  the  sea  and  serve  as  the  great  outlets  of  the  industry  and  commerce 
of  the  whole  people,  they  modestly  propose  to  take  to  themselves  the  pos- 
session and  control  of  seventy-two,  including  the  largest  and  most  impor- 
tant ;  leaving  to  us  but  the  number  of  twelve,  watering  that  comparatively 
small  strip  of  territory  extending  from  the  Hudson  River  to  the  northern 
boundary  of  Maine.  [Groans  ]  They  propose  to  cut  us  off  from  those 
elements  of  national  existence  determined  by  the  curvature  of  mountain 
forms  and  by  the  course  of  rivers,  and  leave  us  a  territory  so  irregular 
and  so  badly  adjusted  in  respect  to  its  dependent  parts,  as  to  make  it 
impossible  for  us  to  keep  it  together  as  a  nation.  Look  at  the  political 
boundaries  of  the  nations  upon  the  map  of  the  globe,  and  not  one  will  be 
found  with  a  territory  so  disjointed  and  fragmentary  as  the  one  that 
would  then  be  left  us.  If  a  foreign  nation  undertook  to  do  this,  we  would 
resist  to  the  last  drop  of  our  blood  ;  and  does  it  make  any  difference  that 
those  who  are  seeking  to  accomplish  it,  have  hitherto  been  a  part  of  our- 
selves, and  proffer  to  us  in  the  future  nothing  but  vows  of  eternal  hate  ? 
[Applause.]  After  eighty-six  years  of  existence  as  one  government  and 
one  people,  eight  millions  rise  up  and  say  to  twenty  millions,  "  We  will 
take  the  largest  part  of  this  country  for  ourselves,  and  you  must  accept 
what  we  think  proper  to  leave  you  ;  we  are  the  better  born,  the  nobler  race, 
the  aristocracy  ;  we  do  not  choose  to  labor  ourselves,  we  prefer  to  have  a 
servile  class  to  labor  for  us,  and  therefore  have  no  sympathy  with  the 
trading  spirit  by  which  you  have  increased  and  multiplied,  nor  with  the 
mechanical,  manufacturing  and  various  industrial  pursuits  to  which  you 
are  devoted."  [Groans.]  They  say  to  us,  "  There  has  never  been  such 
a  thing  as  the  American  nation  ;  it  has  been  only  a  mere  partnership  of 
sovereign  states  which  any  one  might  dissolve  at  its  pleasure.  We  have 
respectively  dissolved  it,  and  in  the  partition  of  the  partnership  effects  we 
have  made  our  own  adjustment,  taken  what  has  pleased  us,  and  left  to 
you  what  we  thought  proper."  To  submit  to  this  is  to  allow  the  weaker 
to  dictate  to  the  stronger — [cries  of  "  Never  "] — to  allow  the  eight  millions 
of  the  South  to  prescribe  to  the  twenty  millions  of  the  North  what  shall 
be  there  future  position.  The  man  who  was  born  in  a  Northern  State,  or 
who  became  a  citizen  by  adoption,  is  as  much  a  citizen  of  South  Carolina 
as  those  who  were  born  or  who  dwell  there.  [Cheers.]  And  neither 
their  Southern  doctrine  of  State  rights,  nor  their  rebellious  attempt  at 
exclusiveness,  can  deprive  him  of  it.  To  submit  to  the  designs  of  the  South, 
is  to  consent  to  national  annihilation.  It  is  to  consent,  in  a  national  point  of 
view,  to  take  territorially  an  inferior  and  subordinate  position ;  to  take  a 
territory  so  placed  geographically,  that  its  dismemberment,  the  breaking 
of  it  up  into  several  parts,  must  be  the  inevitable  consequence.  The 
question,  then,  is  not  whether  we  shall  conquer  the  South,  but  whether 
the  South  shall  conquer  us.  [Cheers.]  It  is  whether  the  present 
aristocracy  of  the  Southern  States,  and  their  retainers,  shall  deprive  the 
intelligent  and  industrious  masses  of  the  North  of  a  territory,  the  joint 
possession  of  which  they  have  equally  inherited,  and  which  is  essential  to 
the  unfettered  exercise  of  their  industry,  and  to  their  full  development  as 
a  nation.  It  is  this  which  gives  to  this  contest  the  character  of  a  mortal 
struggle,  in  which  neither  will  yield  unless  compelled  to  do  so  by  the 
superior  military  prowess  of  the  other.  [Applause.]  It  is  not  like  other 


48 

civil  wars — a  struggle  between  two  classes  of  society,  living  together, 
where  the  one  seeks  to  get  the  mastery  over  the  other  and  establish  a 
form  of  government ;  but  it  is  one  part  of  a  country  enjoying  in  every 
respect  the  same  political  privileges  which  insists  upon  breaking  off 
territorially,  and  which  for  that  purpose  has  arrayed  itself  in  open  war 
against  the  other.  [Cheers.]  The  thing  which  most  nearly  resembles  it  is  the 
division  of  the  once  compact  Republic  of  Colombia  into  the  now  insigni- 
ficant States  of  Ecuador,  New  Grenada  and  Venezuela,  with  the  fruitful 
lesson  which  that  furnishes  in  the  miserable  state  of  anarchy  now 
prevailing  in  these  distracted  and  wretched  countries.  We  have  scarcely 
yet  risen  in  the  North  to  the  full  consciousness  of  the  magnitude  of  the 
struggle  in  which  we  are  engaged.  We  have  not  fully  comprehended 
the  momentous  consequences  which  are  involved  and  the  vital  and 
disastrous  effects  upon  us  if  we  fail  to  succeed. 

In  this  struggle,  which  to  us  is  for  existence,  we  have  a  task  upon  us 
equivalent  to  the  conquering  of  a  nation.  [Cheers.]  We  have  from  the 
beginning  undervalued  the  capacity  and  power  of  resistance  on  the  part  of 
the  South,  and  have  men  now  in  Congress,  who  believe  that  the  South  is 
to  be  conquered  by  the  enactment  of  laws — [laughter  and  cheers] — Con- 
gressional doctors  ignorant  enough  to  think  that  an  armed  rebellion  of 
eight  millions  of  people  can  be  put  down  by  the  passage  of  statutes.  We 
have  not  realized  the  extent  of  resources  that  is  demanded — of  money, 
of  men,  and  of  the  material  of  war.  As  a  peaceful  people,  suddenly  roused 
up,  we  have  displayed  extraordinary  energy,  and  in  so  short  a  space  of 
time  have  put  forth  an  extent  of  naval  and  military  strength  almost  in- 
credible. [Cheers.]  But  great  as  has  been  our  effort,  that  of  the  South 
has  been  greater.  She  has  drafted  the  whole  of  her  available  population, 
determined  to  overmatch  us  by  the  promptitude  with  which  she  has 
brought  troops  into  the  field.  She  is  said  to  have  two  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  men  now  at  Richmond,  while  we  have  not  half  that 
number.  She  has  made  a  last  great  effort ;  and,  should  we  pause  here, 
it  will  be,  on  her  part,  a  successful  one.  We  will  be  beaten,  humiliated 
and  disgraced.  All  that  we  have  hitherto  done  will  have  gone  for  noth- 
ing, and  we  will  retire  from  the  contest  with  a  contracted  territory  and  a 
gigantic  load  of  debt,  which  of  itself  will  be  a  reason  for  one  part  of 
the  country  to  shift  it  off  upon  the  other  by  acts  of  dismemberment  and 
separation.  To  avert  these  calamities,  a  call  is  made  by  the  Government 
upon  the  country  for  three  hundred  thousand  men ;  and  if  that  call  is 
promptly  responded  to,  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion  will  be  but  a 
question  of  time.  [Cheers.]  It  will  soon  be  seen  whether  our  people 
are,  or  are  not,  equal  to  the  great  emergency  which  now  calls  upon  them 
to  act.  If  they  fail  in  this  crisis,  then  the  South  are,  as  they  have  claimed 
to  be,  our  masters.  They  will  triumph  in  the  consciousness  that  they  have 
chafed  into  submission  those  artisans,  tradesmen  and  laborers  of  the  North. 
We  are  masters  upon  the  water,  but  on  the  land  the  heart  of  this  rebellion 
has  not  yet  been  reached,  and  it  will  not  be  unless  this  levy  is  raised.  If 
this  call  is  responded  to,  and  three  hundred  thousand  men  rapidly  put  in 
the  field  we  shall  be  armed  in  a  double  sense  : — First,  it  will  secure  us 
against  foreign  intervention — [loud  cheers]  ;  and,  secondly,  we  shall  ac- 
complish what  we  undertook  to  do  when  we  first  rose  to  the  defence  of 
our  government  and  our  flag.  The  season,  being  the  time  of  harvest,  is 


not  a  propitious  one,  and  if,  from  that  or  any  other  cause,  this  force  can- 
not be  raised  by  volunteering  in  time  to  meet  the  present  pressing  emer- 
gencies of  the  government,  I  can  see  no  good  reason  why  a  draft  should 
not  at  once  be  made.  [Loud  and  general  expression  of  approbation.] 
Our  enemies  have  resorted  to  it,  and  it  is  now  the  chief  source  of  their 
strength.  The  government  of  Europe  which  most  nearly  resembles  our 
own — the  republic  of  Switzerland — was  placed  a  few  years  ago  in  a  situa- 
tion exactly  like  ours.  The  southern  cantons  undertook  to  break  off  and 
establish  a  confederate  government  by  themselves.  The  northern  can- 
tons^ constituting,  as  we  do,  the  majority  of  the  population,  raised  an  army 
and  crushed  the  rebellion.  The  plan  which  they  resorted  to,  and  which 
proved  eminently  successful,  was  to  draft  the  whole  of  the  requisite  force 
in  the  very  beginning.  It  brought  into  the  army  men  of  all  ranks  and 
conditions,  making  it  a  high-toned,  intelligent  and  patriotic  body.  While 
our  system  of  volunteering  is  enormously  expensive,  the  measure  adopted 
by  the  republic  of  Switzerland  was  economical  and  brought  together  a 
devoted,  disinterested  and  patriotic  body  of  men.  It  is  at  least  fair  and 
just  in  its  operation,  as  it  casts  the  duty  of  defending  the  government 
equally  upon  all  classes — [cheers] — and  if  the  necessity  should  exist  I  do 
not  see  why  we  should  hesitate  to  resort  to  it.  The  man  who  is  not  will- 
ing to  defend  a  free  and  liberal  government  like  this,  when  the  lot  is  cast 
upon  him,  is  unfit  to  live  under  it  and  enjoy  its  blessings.  [Loud  applause.] 
Our  national  existence,  then,  depends  upon  our  obtaining  the  three  hun- 
dred thousand  men.  To  that  every  other  consideration  is  subordinate. 
Like  Aaron's  rod,  it  swallows  up  every  other,  and  the  whole  energies  of 
the  people  and  of  the  Government  must  be  devoted  to  it.  But  the  men 
now  called  to  come  forth  to  the  rescue  of  the  nation,  have  a  right  to  de- 
mand that  they  shall  be  led  by  generals,  and  not  by  politicians  in  uniform  ; 
and  we,  men  of  all  parties  assembled  here  to-day  in  this  mighty  gather- 
ing of  the  intelligence  and  patriotism  of  the  masses  of  this  great  metropo- 
lis, have  a  right  to  call  upon  our  temporary  rulers  at  Washington  to 
imitate  the  example  which  is  here  set  them  of  unity,  of  public  spirit  and 
patriotism,  [cheers]  ;  to  leave  off  the  discussion  of  measures  upon 
which  we  are  a  divided  people,  and  think  only  of  the  preservation  of  the 
country  in  this  pressing  crisis.  Let  them  bear  in  mind  that  they  are  not 
as  great  men  as  they  suppose  themselves  to  be,  and  learn  something  of 
that  fine  element  of  character — humility.  Let  them  remember  that  more 
than  two  thirds  of  the  men  composing  the  army  of  the  Union  are  opposed 
to  them  politically,  and,  above  all,  let  the  civilians  in  Washington  give  up 
directing  and  controlling  the  operations  of  generals  in  the  field.  [Loud 
cheers.]  The  Archduke  Charles  was  but  little  inferior  in  military  genius 
to  Napoleon,  and  with  the  superior  numbers  at  his  command  might  have 
been  more  than  a  match  for  his  great  adversary,  had  not  his  operations  in 
the  field  been  controlled  by  the  Aulic  Council  sitting  at  Vienna.  To  this 
body  every  unemployed  general  and  intrusive  civilian,  as  at  Washington, 
had  access,  and,  ignorant  of  the  changes  and  vicissitudes  which  attend  a 
campaign,  this  Council  baffled  the  best  laid  plans  of  the  Archduke  by 
controlling  his  opinion  and  prescribing  beforehand  what  the  movement 
of  the  armies  should  be ;  and  had  not  Wellington,  in  the  war  of  the 
Peninsula,  openly  disregarded  the  suggestions,  and  even  orders,  that  came 
to  him  from  London,  the  British  arms  would  never  have  triumphed  over 

7 


50 

the  generals  of '  Napoleon.  [Cheers.]  No  general  under  heaven  can 
accomplish  anything  if,  in  addition  to  the  enemy  in  front,  he  has  also  to 
fight  against  an  army  of  detractors  and  advisers  in  his  rear.  [Prolonged 
applause.]  If  he  is  incompetent,  take  the  responsibility  and  remove  him  ; 
but  while  he  is  in  command  let  him  command.  We  can  raise  the  three 
hundred  thousand  men ;  but  if  the  spirit  of  meddlesome  interference  at 
Washington,  controlling  the  operations  of  generals  in  the  field,  does  not 
meet  the  contempt  it  deserves  in  the  indignant  rebuke  of  our  whole  peo- 
ple, then  our  energies  will  be  wasted  again,  and  in  the  fullness  of  national 
calamity  we  will  be  left  but  to  lament  over  the  madness  and  folly  of  our 
temporary  rulers.  [Loud  applause.] 

Three  cheers  were  given  for  Judge  DALY. 

SPEECH  OF  HON.  DAVID  S.  CODDINGTON. 

Hon.  D.  S.  CODDINGTON  was  the  next  speaker.  He  was  greeted 
with  applause,  and  said  : — 

FELLOW-CITIZENS, — In  this  hour  of  alienation,  tumult,  and  disaster,  no 
man,  however  humble,  has  a  right  to  sit  still  when  the  nation  has  sprung 
to  its  feet,  and  the  Union  lies  bleeding  upon  its  back.  [Cheers.] 

We  have  come  here  in  the  darkest  hour  of  National  existence  to  de- 
clare before  the  world  that  the  unity  and  nationality  of  America  shall 
Hot  be  dissolved,  either  in  the  swamps  of  the  Chickahominy  or  the  Coun- 
cil Chambers  of  Paris  or  London.  [Great  applause.]  We  are  all,  under 
moral  martial  law,  now  bound  to  obey  every  draft  upon  the  brain,  the 
heart,  the  purse,  and  the  life,  to  serve  a  Government,  whose  authority 
has  dropped  upon  us  with  the  gentleness  of  a  flower,  and  yet  shielded  us 
with  the  strength  of  a  giant.  We  may  have  our  weaknesses,  and  these 
weaknesses  may  serve  to  point  an  English  sneer,  or  round  a  Southern 
taunt ;  but  they  never  yet  have  succeeded  in  vitiating  the  grander  points 
of  our  National  character,  neither  have  they,  for  one  moment,  obstructed 
the  beneficent  action  of  our  hitherto  unassailable  institutions.  [Cheers.] 

If  secession  is  right,  then  all  order,  all  regulated  society,  is  wrong.  If 
secession  cannot  be  put  down  without  war,  then  war  is  the  highest  duty 
and  best  business  of  the  American  citizen — more  profitable  than  mer- 
chandise, more  beautiful  than  poetry,  and,  for  the  time  being,  as  sacred 
as  the  ministry  itself.  True,  we  may  fail  sometimes  ;  so  do  all  business 
and  sciences  until  experience  teaches  them.  By  degrees  we  shall  learn 
the  art  of  blood,  and  mayhap  the  foe  will  find  the  Yankee  shop-boy  an 
efficient  chronic  portable  slaughter-house.  So  far  we  have  fought  half 
tiger  and  half  brother.  No  half  man  accomplishes  much.  We  must  be 
all  tiger  now,  that  we  may  be  all  brothers  by  and  by.  [Laughter  and 
applause.] 

If  fevers  and  blunders  have  wasted  the  strength  and  tampered  with  the 
glory  of  our  armies,  the  beautiful  enthusiasm  of  this  day's  proceedings 
illustrates  how  heartily  and  abundantly  we  try  to  redeem  our  errors  and 
relieve  our  heroes.  Was  it  not  a  sublime  spectacle  to  see  the  President 
of  the  United  States  pouring  the  balm  of  his  sympathizing  Presidential 


51 

presence  into  the  serried  ranks  of  the  wearied  army  of  the  Potomac — 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  confronting  GEO.  B.  MCCLELLAN  ?  [Loud  cheers  for 
McClellan.]  The  embodied  representative  of  the  National  authority 
shaking  hands  with  the  genius  of  American  safety — the  great  rail-splitter 
reproaching  the  railers  against  the  noble  army  and  its  gifted  chieftain. 

When  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  was  nominated,  I  laughed  at  the  convention  ; 
when  he  was  elected,  I  trembled  for  the  country  ;  but  since  he  has  been 
inaugurated,  I  have  learned  to  love  and  honor  thesaan  who  has  so  faith- 
fully wielded  the  National  resources.  [Great  applause.]  When  the 
South  struck  at  the  President,  they  fired  at  a  man  in  the  stocks,  cooped 
up  in  judicial  decisions,  bound  down  by  legislative  restrictions,  warned 
away  from  all  philanthropic  mischief  by  the  wholesome  hostility  of  an 
adverse  popular  vote.  They  found  him  in  quiet,  helpless,  party  paralysis, 
and  only  left  him  an  aroused,  wounded,  angry  National  giant,  with  all 
the  resources  of  all  parties  at  his  command. 

The  South  sneered  at  our  poor,  under-fed,  over-worked  soldiers,  who 
fled  from  Bull  Run  ;  but  now  the  world  laughs  at  a  whole  community 
who  ran  away  from  a  shadow.  Our  soldiers  left  a  few  arms  and  knap- 
sacks on  the  field,  while  they  threw  away  long  years  of  happiness  and 
prosperity.  Daily  are  we  taunted  with  their  superiority  in  arms  and 
birth.  They  claim  WASHINGTON,  as  if  their  deeds  had  made  him.  Out  of 
the  200,000  troops  who  fought  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  the  South 
did  not  furnish  20,000.  But  for  the  North,  WASHINGTON  would  have 
gone  down  to  posterity  with  a  halter  around  his  neck.  It  was  Northern 
hands  that  moulded  his  Virginia  clay  into  an  immortal  statue.  [Sensation.] 

Compared  with  our  solid  successes,  what  have  the  South  achieved  in 
this  war  ?  Two  or  three  land  checks  and  one  steam  fright.  [Laughter.] 
The  ghost  of  the  Merrimac  will  haunt  the  nation  for  centuries.  By  di- 
verting the  base  of  operations  from  the  James  River,  it  has  cost  us  $100,- 
000,000.  That  sum  would  have  built  us  300  Monitors,  which  would 
have  blockaded  all  intervention. 

The  march  of  events  now  means  the  march  of  armies.  The  progress 
of  our  institutions  depends  at  last  upon  the  speed  of  our  bullets  ;  when 
they  rain  the  Union  is  safe,  when  they  slacken  the  Union  reels.  War  is 
a  cruel  alternative,  but  not  more  so  than  a  peace  which  removes  from 
danger  without  relieving  us  of  disgrace,  disorder,  and  disintegration. 
We  want  not  lamentation  over  this  war,  but  enlistments  in  the  war.  Let 
us  shed  no  tears  but  volunteers.  [Great  laughter.]  We  cannot  succeed 
in  this  gigantic  war  until  all  classes  are  worked  up  to  the  thrusting  point. 

There  must  be  a  fighting  man  from  every  family  and  every  calling ;  a 
fighting  lawyer,  a  fighting  doctor,  a  fighting  priest,  ay,  and  a  fighting 
dandy.  Now  is  the  time  for  white  kids  to  redeem  themselves.  Now  is 
the  time  for  all  that  army  of  fashionable  loungers  who  have  been  growl- 
ing all  their  lives  for  lack  of  opportunity.  Now  is  the  time  for  them  to 
rise,  strike  and  be  immortal.  ["  Good,  good."]  While  the  South  have 
sent  a  thousand  men  to  battle,  we  have  sent  a  hundred.  While  they 
have  mounted  science  to  lead  on  their  armies  to  victory,  we  have  too 
often  skipped  experience  and  thrust  politics  on  horseback  to  save  the 
country.  Twenty-three  millions  of  people  are  tired  of  being  told  that 
they  are  outwitted  because  they  are  outnumbered.  [Cheers.]  If  we  fall 
now  we  will  be  the  oddest  ruin  on  record.  Rome  was  four  hundred  years 


52 

dying  of  her  own  corruptions.  We,  instead  of  being  enervated  by  luxury 
or  discomfited  by  invasion,  go  down  with  all  our  strength,  and  all  our 
wealth,  and  all  our  wits  about  us.  [Applause.]  Destroyed  by  a  remark, 
our  great  light  blown  out  by  the  passionate  breath  of  partisan  oratory. 
[Great  applause.]  I,  for  one,  can  never  believe  in  such  a  death.  The 
ablest  sword  of  the  age  is  hanging  by  our  side.  The  heaviest  purse  on 
the  Continent  is  in  our  pocket;  the  noblest  cause  for  which  man  can  draw 
his  brother's  blood,  calls  him  to  the  battle-field,  and  if  we  wait  patiently 
and  act  vigorously  the  greatest  victory  of  modern  times  is  in  our  grasp — 
the  victory  of  the  Republic  over  itself,  the  victory  of  democrat  virtues 
over  aristocrat  vices,  the  victory  of  law,  order,  and  Government  over  dis- 
union, distraction,  conflagration,  and  damnation.  [Long  applause.] 

On  conclusion  of  the  honorable  gentleman's  remarks,  three 
cheers  were  proposed  for  Mr.  CODDIXGTON,  which  were  vociferously- 
responded  to. 

The  Chairman,  A.  A.  Low,  Esq.,  said  :— 

FELLOW-CITIZENS, — We  have  here  the  Rev.  Dr.  FRANCIS  VINTON.  He 
did  not  intend  to  speak ;  but  if  there  be  a  man  from  whom  we  have  a 
right  to  expect  a  word,  it  is  he.  He  belongs  to  a  family,  (as  many  of 
you  know,)  who  have  not  only  given  their  voice  and  their  service,  but 
their  blood,  to  the  country.  He  himself,  though  now  a  clergyman  of 
one  of  our  principal  churches — old  Trinity — is  a  West  Pointer,  and  has 
served  in  the  United  States  Army  through  one  war.  His  nephew  com- 
mands the  43d  New- York  Volunteers  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  A 
brother  is  the  distinguished  Deputy  Quartermaster-General  of  the  Army 
in  this  city ;  and  another  brother,  father  of  the  Colonel  of  the  43d,  died 
while  in  command  of  the  trenches  before  Vera  Cruz.  [Cheers  and  cries, 
"  Let  us  hear  him."]  I  will  ask  the  Rev.  Doctor  to  say  a  few  words  to 
us.  [Cheers.] 

Dr.  Vinton  then  came  forward  and  spoke,  substantially,  as 
follows : — 

SPEECH  OF  REV.  DE.  FRANCIS  VINTOX. 

FELLOW-CITIZENS, — I  could  not,  after  listening  to  such  a  call  as  that 
which  I  have  just  heard,  remain  silent  and  decline  to  lift  my  voice  to 
speak  to  you.  This  war  was  not  begun  by  us.  When  Major  Ander- 
son was  summoned  to  surrender  Fort  Sumter  to  the  rebels,  he  refused, 
but  added,  in  an  unofficial  way,  that  in  three  days  he  would  be  starved 
out,  and  compelled  to  evacuate  the  fort.  When  his  reply,  official  and 
unofficial,  was  telegraphed  to  Montgomery,  the  lightning  flashed  across 
the  wires  this  response  from  the  Confederate  Government,  "  Open  fire  at 


53 

once."  Those  rebel  guns  inaugurated  the  war  against  the  Flag  and  the 
Constitution  and  the  Union  of  the  United  States. 

We  have  been,  ever  since,  waging  a  defensive  war — a  war  to  defend, 
to  protect  and  to  maintain  the  Union  and  Constitution  of  our  country, 
and  thus  to  preserve  our  life  as  a  nation. 

At  this  particular  crisis,  the  war  has  become  a  question  of  honor  or 
dishonor,  of  liberty  or  slavery,  of  death  or  of  life,  to  you  and  your 
children. 

I  waive  all  debate  as  to  foregone  points  of  policy  or  of  party,  of  mis- 
take, of  fraud,  and  whatever  things  soever  have  irritated  and  divided  the 
Free  States,  and  I  say  that  a  crisis  is  upon  us,  when  every  patriot, 
whether  he  be  father  or  mother,  son  or  daughter,  must  lay  the  offering 
of  his  dearest  possession  upon  the  altar,  in  obedience  to  the  command  of 
God  and  of  the  State.  Let  our  Isaac  be  ever  so  closely  knit  to  our 
hearts  and  our  hopes,  we  must  be  the  faithful  Abraham  to  give  him  up 
in  sacrifice.  [Cheers.] 

I  have  served  our  country  in  her  army  for  ten  years,  and  I  speak  to 
you  as  a  military  man.  And  I  tell  you  that  we  have  not  lost  an  equal 
battle  in  this  whole  war ;  even  at  Bull  Kun,  we  beat  the  army  opposed 
to  us.  Beauregard,  in  his  official  report  of  that  battle,  says  to  Davis, 
that  he  had  reluctantly  given  orders  to  retreat — that  when  he  saw  the 
columns  approaching  in  his  rear,  he  did  not  know  whether  they  belonged 
to  Patterson  or  to  Johnson  ;  but  when  he  found  that  they  were  reinforce- 
ments, and  not  opponents,  then  he  began  to  hope  for  victory. 

In  every  action  since  Bull  Run  (except,  perhaps,  Ball's  Bluff)  the 
loyal  army  of  the  United  States  has  conquered  the  rebels,  in  fair  fight 
and  often  against  odds,  causing  them  to  evacuate  and  "  skedaddle  "  after 
their  first  elan  and  onslaught.  In  proof  of  this,  look  at  Bowling  Green 
and  Corinth,  and  the  previous  battles  which  delivered  Missouri ;  look  at 
the  evacuation  of  Columbus,  of  Manassas,  of  Yorktown,  of  Norfolk,  and 
the  defeat  at  Williamsburg,  to  say  nothing  of  what  our  army  and  navy 
combined,  have  accomplished  at  Port  Royal,  and  Fort  Donelson  and 
New  Orleans. 

But  what  chiefly  demonstrates  the  superiority  of  the  Union  forces  over 
the  rebels,  are  the  late  series  of  victories  of  McClellan  [cheers]  in  his 
march  from  the  Pamunkey  to  the  James  River,  in  the  last  week  of  June 
and  the  first  two  days  of  July. 

McClellan  conquered  the  rebels  in  seven  successive  battles  on  seven 
successive  days  ;  wherever  he  encountered  the  rebels  he  overthrew  them, 
and  is  nearer  Richmond  now  than  ever  he  was  before.  [Cheers.]  With 
the  strong  right  arm  of  the  country  supporting  him  on  James  River — 
the  navy — I  say  he  is  nearer  to  Richmond  than  ever.  Though  in  the 
change  of  front  to  the  new  base  of  operations  on  James  River,  our  army 
lost  ten  thousand  men,  yet  the  enemy  lost  (as  they  confess)  thirty  thou- 
sand ;  while  we  succeeded,  in  that  manoeuvre,  in  concentrating  the  power 
of  our  forces,  and  the  rebels  were  defeated  in  their  attempt  to  prevent  it. 

Fellow-citizens,  there  are  some  among  us  who  echo  the  rebels'  boast, 
and  misname  McClellan' s  change  of  front,  a  retreat,  and  his  casualties,  a 
defeat.  Nothing,  in  a  military  point  of  view,  is  more  false  than  this 
aspect  of  the  late  battles  before  Richmond.  What  are  the  facts  of  the 
case  ?  The  James  River  is  the  natural  avenue  to  Richmond ;  McClellan 


54 

could  not  advance  on  that  route  while  Norfolk  was  in  possession  of  the 
rebels,  and  while  the  iron-clad  Merrimac  blockaded  the  mouth  of  the 
James  River.  When  Norfolk  was  taken  and  the  Merrimac  was  destroyed, 
and  our  gun-boats  had  reached  City  Point,  it  was  the  true  policy  of 
McClellan  to  join  the  gun-boats,  and  unite  our  naval  and  military  forces. 

McClellan,  as  early  as  Friday,  in  the  third  week  of  June,  gave  orders 
to  remove  the  stores  from  the  White  House  and  the  York  River,  round 
to  the  James.  And  it  was  done  effectually,  and  without  interruption  or 
loss,  by  the  following  Tuesday.  On  Tuesday  he  moved  his  army ;  it  was 
attacked,  and  the  attack  was  repulsed ;  fresh  hordes  of  the  fugitives  of 
Beauregard  with  the  veterans  of  Johnson  and  Lee  repeated  the  assaults 
on  Wednesday,  and  Thursday,  and  Friday,  and  Saturday  and  Sunday, 
and  each  onslaught  was  repelled :  on  Monday,  the  advance  of  our  army 
reached  the  James  River,  driving  before  them  three  thousand  head  of 
cattle  and  dragging  their  siege  guns  through  the  swamps  of  the  Chicka- 
hominy,  without  the  loss  of  a  hoof  or  the  abandonment  of  a  gun.  The 
dead  and  the  wounded  were  necessarily  left  behind,  and  several  field- 
pieces  (twenty-five  in  number)  were  disabled  and  captured.  Prisoners 
were  taken  and  provisions  in  baggage  wagons  were  captured.  This  was 
all  our  damage,  though  it  was  fearful  and  saddening. 

On  Monday  the  rebels  renewed  the  fight  on  the  rear-guard,  and  were 
again  repulsed  with  loss  of  whole  brigades  of  rebel  prisoners  and  of 
twenty- six  of  their  guns.  On  Tuesday  the  reserve  of  the  enemy  marched 
from  Richmond,  fresh  and  untired,  with  the  expectation  of  getting  into 
the  rear  of  our  exhausted  troops ;  but  they  were  met  and  held  until  our 
gun-boats,  the  Galena  and  the  Monitor,  opened  a  terrific  fire,  which  sent 
the  frightened  rebels  hurly  skurly  back  to  Richmond.  Thus-  ended  the 
foiled  attempts  to  outgeneral  McClellan.  [Cheers.]  Thus  terminated 
the  rebel  efforts  to  beat  our  brave  soldiers  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
[Cheers.]  It  is  worth  noticing,  that  the  correspondent  of  the  New-York 
Tribune  relates  that  he  was  on  board  of  the  Galena  when  McClellan 
arrived  on  board  from  a  skiff,  and  posted  the  gun-boat  by  his  own  direc- 
tions to  her  commander ;  that  then  he  went  aboard  of  the  Monitor,  and 
pointed  out  the  proper  position  for  that  champion  to  take.  [Cheers.] 
It  was  a  spectacle  like  that  of  Perry  passing  from  the  Lawrence  to  the 
Niagara,  and  plucking  victory  from  a  competent  foe  by  the  force  of 
mind  and  valor.  It  was  the  shots  from  these,  his  naval  coadjutors,  which 
gave  the  finishing  blow  to  the  rebels  in  their  last  assault,  and  sent  them 
back  to  their  rebel  capital.  [Cheers  for  McClellan.] 

Now,  fellow-citizens,  does  all  this  wear  the  aspect  of  McClellan's 
defeat,  or  of  McClellan's  victories  ?  The  rebels  were  foiled,  and  the 
Union  Army  was  successful.  And  I  claim  the  series  of  victories,  costly 
as  they  were,  to  McClellan  and  his  army,  and  so  will  history  record  her 
judgment.  Why,  let  me  put  the  case  in  a  familiar  way ;  suppose  that 
you  were  going  over  the  ferry  to  Brooklyn,  where  two  or  three  rowdies 
encountered  you,  and  swore  that  you  should  not  go ;  they  attack  you, 
and  you  knock  them  down,  one  after  another,  and  go  on  your  way,  and 
reach  the  other  side  as  you  intended.  Who  conquered  ?  W'ho  got  the 
victory  ?  Will  you  say  that  you  were  defeated,  because  your  clothes 
were  torn  and  your  nose  bloody,  or  even  if  your  arm  were  broken  and 
your  purse  gone  ? 


55 

These  are  the  casualties  of  the  occasion.  You  were  not  the  conquered, 
but  the  victors.  This  is  a  plain  and  homely,  but  true  illustration,  of 
the  seven  days'  battle  of  McClellan.  The  enemy  assailed  him  three  to 
one,  and  he  drove  them  off.  [Cheers.]  Fellow-citizens,  I  knew  most  of 
the  leaders  of  this  rebellion  at  West  Point  and  in  the  army.  And  among 
them  are  men,  whom,  before  the  rebellion,  1  have  known  as  gentlemen ; 
but  the  Bible  says,  that  "  Rebellion  is  as  witchcraft ; "  Samuel  uttered  this 
divine  condemnation  to  Saul,  and  when  Saul  became  a  rebel,  his  very 
nature  was,  as  by  witchcraft,  changed,  and  so  now  again,  has  this  rebel- 
lion changed  those  whom  I  once  recognized  as  friends  and  gentlemen. 
They  have  become  our  foes,  and,  in  their  attempts  to  destroy  the  Consti- 
tution and  Union  and  Government  of  the  United  States,  they  would  be 
our  murderers,  like  Saul  against  David.  They  would  kill  us  or  make  us 
vassals.  Shall  they  do  this,  or  shall  every  traitor  to  the  Constitution  be 
made  to  feel  the  authority  and  power  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  3  The  Army  of  the  Potomac  must  be  recruited  and  reinforced. 
The  President  has  called  for  300,000  loyal  soldiers.  Shall  we  go  to  the 
army  or  stay  at  home  ?  Who  will  not  offer  himself  as  a  champion  or  a 
martyr  for  his  country,  in  this  crisis  of  constitutional  liberty  ?  Who 
will  not  enlist  when  victory  or  death  are  the  issues  ?  Who  will  not  go 
to  the  altar,  like  Isaac,  to  be  priest  or  sacrifice,  as  God  may  appoint,  and 
win  an  imperishable  name  on  the  muster-roll  of  a  nation's  heroes  ?  Let 
the  example  of  Mr.  Seward's  son  be  an  example  to  us.  The  Secretary  of 
State,  in  his  letter  just  now  read,  tells  you  that  he  has  offered  his  young- 
est son  to  the  service  of  his  country,  as  a  private  in  one  of  the  military 
organizations  of  New  York.  [Prolonged  and  enthusiastic  applause.] 

SPEECH  OP  PETER  COOPER. 

In  response  to  a  call  from  the  Meeting,  PETER  COOPER  came 
forward  and  said  : — 

FELLOW-CITIZENS, — I  can  assure  you  that  nothing  could  give  me  greater 
pleasure  than  to  be  able  to  say  a  word,  if  possible,  that  would  awake  the 
slumbering  energies  of  the  nation  to  the  magnitude  of  the  war  in  which 
we  are  engaged.  [Cheers.]  We  are  contending  with  an  enemy  not 
only  determined  on  our  destruction  as  a  nation,  but  an  enemy  that  is 
determined  to  build  on  our  ruins  a  government  with  all  its  power  devoted 
to  maintain,  extend,  and  perpetuate  a  system  in  itself  revolting  to  all  the 
best  feelings  of  humanity.  An  institution  that  enables  thousands  to  sell 
their  own  children  into  hopeless  bondage.  [A  voice — "  That's  so  1  I  have 
seen  it."]  Shall  it  succeed  ?  [Cries  of  "  No !  No ! "]  You  say  no,  and  I 
unite  with  you  and  say  no,  also.  We  cannot  allow  it  to  succeed.  We 
should  spend  our  lives,  our  property  and  leave  the  land  a  desolation 
before  such  an  institution  should  triumph  over  the  free  people  of  this 
country.  [Applause.] 

I  know,  my  friends,  that  will  be  the  feeling  when  the  people  wake  up 
to  the  importance  of  the  present  occasion ;  and  I  believe  the  time  has 
now  come  that  we  begin  to  see  that  thousands,  nay  millions,  are  sighing 
to  help  us,  but  are  afraid  because  they  say  we  are  fighting  to  restore  an 
institution  that  will  keep  them  in  perpetual  bondage. 


56 

I  trust  the  day  has  come  when  -we  shall  unbind  the  heavy  burdens  and 
let  the  captives  go  free — when  we  shall  meet  these  men  who  are  ready  to 
unite  and  aid  us,  and  give  us  the  help  we  need.  [Cheers.]  A  help  that 
will  take  from  the  rebels  the  power  on  which  they  depend  for  digging 
their  trenches,  plowing  their  fields,  raising  their  crops,  and  leaving 
them  leisure  to  play  upon  us  the  game  of  war.  Shall  it  be  so  any 
longer  ?  I  trust  it  shall  not.  Let  us  unite  and  do  what  we  can  to  con- 
vince the  people  of  the  South,  that  their  best  interests  call  for  the  freedom 
of  their  slaves,  and  not  only  of  their  slaves,  but  the  freedom  of  the 
white  people  of  the  South  from  the  terrible  thralldom,  the  terrible 
dependence  they  are  in,  when  they  allow  themselves  to  rely  on  a  coerced 
and  uncompensated  labor.  [Cheers.]  Let  u»  unite  in  an  effort  to  sustain 
the  Government  by  every  means  in  our  power,  and  get  the  army  built 
up  in  the  shortest  possible  time,  with  the  best  men  and  arms  that  can  be 
found.  [Enthusiastic  applause.] 

The  proceedings  at  this  stand  were  then  closed. 


OFFICERS. 

STAND   No.   3. 

Under  charge  of  Committee  of  Arrangements, 
PETER  MITCHELL,  CHARLES  GOULD. 


President. 

HAMILTON  FISH,  President  of  Union  Defence  Committee. 


William  B.  Astor, 
Moses  H.  Grinnell, 
William  C.  Bryant, 
Luther  Bradish, 
James  Lenox, 
Joseph  Sampson, 
Charles  H.  Marshall, 
George  Bancroft, 
Robert  Ray, 
Samuel  B.  Ruggles, 
Peter  Cooper, 
C.  R.  Robert, 
Henry  W.  Bellows, 
Merritt  Trimble, 
James  W.  Beekman, 
Alexander  T.  Stewart, 
Richard  M.  Blatchford, 
Thomas  Tileston, 
George  T.  Adee, 
John  Cotton  Smith, 
Frederic  Depeyster, 
Cyrus  Curtiss, 
William  Aymar, 
Henry  L.  Pierson, 
F.  S.  Winston, 
Adrian  Iselin, 
George  T.  Strong, 
James  L.  Morris. 
Benj.  D.  Silliman. 
Frederick  G.  Foster, 
AVilliam  A.  Darling, 
Charles  A.  Heckscher, 
Japhet  Bishop, 
Hugo  Wesendonck, 
A.  C.  Richards. 
Charles  B.  Hoffman, 


Vice-Presidents. 


Lorillard  Spencer, 
George  S.  Robbing, 
James  Punnett, 
William  Post, 
A.  L.  Robertson, 
William  Barton, 
Richard  Warren, 
Otis  D.  Swan, 
EHas  Wade,  Jr., 
O.  D.  F.  Grant, 
Theodore  Polhemus, 
Anthony  S.  Hope, 
William  Allen  Butler, 
Edward  A.  Bibby, 
Jacob  Hayes, 
William  F.  Cary, 
James  Renwick, 
Samuel  M.  Fox, 
J.  Butler  Wright, 
Frederick  Sheldon, 
Caleb  Barstow, 
Frederick  Prime, 
J.  B.  Giraud  Foster, 
James  B.  Murray, 
Alexander  Hamilton, 
Wm.  P.  Esterbrook, 
Alexander  S.  Leonard, 
John  Trenor. 
William  Black, 
Edmund  Schermerhorn, 
David  S.  Coddington, 
George  Donalson, 
Franklin  H.  Delano, 
Jonathan  Thome, 
John  Sedgwick, 
Robert  J.  Livingston, 


58 


Philetns  H.  Holt,  Henry  Drisler. 

Samuel  T.  Bridgham,  Wickham  Hoffman, 

Thomas  M.  Adriance,  Albert  II.  Gallatin, 

P.  Remsen  Strong,  Horace  Green, 

Isaac  Green  Pearson,  Howard  Potter, 

Adam  Norrie,  Lorenzo  Draper, 

John  Ward,  James  A.  Briggs, 

William  C.  Rhinelander,  James  M.  Cross. 

Israel  Corse,  Henry  A.  Smythe, 

'Jeorge  W.  Blunt,  Thomas  Addis  Emmet. 

Francis  B.  Nicol,  Herman  R.  LeRoy. 

Daniel  H.  Turner,  C.  E.  Detmold. 


Secretaries. 

Frank  Moore,  Henry  R.  Benkard, 

John  H.  White,  Charles  C.  Xott, 

Sheppard  Gandy,  Charles  Xeilson, 

George  W.  Ogston,  J.  Winthrop  Chanler, 

Samuel  Blatchford,  William  J.  Emmet, 

James  F.  Ruggles,  Henry  A.  Oakley, 

Frank  W.  Ballard,  Charles  Goodhne, 

John  Nesbitt,  George  B.  Waldron, 

Robert  Cutting,  Elliot  F.  Shepard, 

\Villiam  S.  Chamberlain,  Robert  Benson,  Jr., 

William  Bibby  Nathaniel  Prime, 

Oliver  King.  William  Rhinelander. 
Samuel  Curtis, 


PROGRAMME  OF  PROCEEDINGS. 


STAND   No.   3. 

SALUTES  OF  ARTILLERY  BY  ANTHON  LIGHT  BATTERY  and  by 
the  WORKMEN  employed  by  HENRY  BREWSTER  &  Co. 

1.  Music — Grand  March  by 

2.  PETER  MITCHELL  will  call  the  meeting  to  order,  read  the  call 

of  the  meeting,  and  conduct  HAMILTON  FISH  to  the  chair. 

3.  "W.  E.  DODGE  will  read  the  list  of  Vice-Presidents  and  Sec- 

retaries. 

4.  HAMILTON  FISH,  Chairman,  will  address  the  meeting. 

5.  CHARLES  GOULD  will  read  the  ADDRESS  adopted  by  the  Con- 

vention of  Committees. 

6.  PETER  MITCHELL  will  read  the  KESOLUTIONS  adopted  by  the 

Convention  of  Committees. 

7.  Music. 

8.  ETHAN  ALLEN  will  deliver  an  Address. 

9.  Music. 

10.  R  D.  HITCHCOCK  will  deliver  an  address. 

11.  Music. 

12.  JOHN  A.  KING. 

13.  Music. 


60 

In  the  absence  of  HAMILTON  FISH,  who  had  been  designated  to 
preside  over  this  stand,  CHAKLES  GOULD,  of  the  Committee  of 
Arrangements,  was  called  to  the  Chair. 

Mr.  GEORGE  W.  BLUNT  read  the  Address.  The  Resolutions 
were  read  by  Alderman  MITCHELL,  and  adopted  unanimously. 

Weigand's  band  having  given  the  "  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  the 
first  speaker  introduced  was  Mr.  ETHAN  ALLEN,  Assistant  U.  S. 
District  Attorney,  who  spoke  as  follows : — 

MR.  ETHAN  ALLEN'S  SPEECH. 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  NEW- YORK, — Once  more  the  tocsin  sounds  to 
arms,  and  freemen  rally  to  the  call.  It  is  now  nearly  a  century  ago  that 
mass  meetings  of  our  fathers  were  held  in  this  city,  to  devise  ways  and 
means  for  the  defence  of  that  very  flag,  which  to-day  is  given  to  the 
winds  of  Heaven,  beaming  defiance  from  every  star.  Fired  then  with  the 
same  spirit  of  freedom  that  kindles  on  this  spot  to-day,  for  the  time 
throwing  aside  the  habiliments  of  peace,  our  fathers  armed  themselves 
for  vengeance  and  for  war.  The  history  of  that  war,  go  read  it  in  the 
hearts  of  the  American  people;  the  trials  and  struggles  of  that  war, 
mark  them  in  the  tear-drop  which  the  very  allusion  calls  to  every  eye ; 
the  blessings  of  that  war,  count  them  in  the  gorgeous  temples  of  trade 
that  rise  everywhere  around  you;  the  wisdom  of  that  war,  and  the 
promised  perpetuity  of  its  triumphs,  behold  the  one  in  our  unexampled 
national  prosperity,  and  the  other  in  the  impulses  that  like  an  electric 
flash  bind  heart  to  heart  throughout  this  vast  assemblage  in  the  firm  re- 
solve, that,  cost  what  it  may,  rebellion  shall  go  down.  [Loud  applause.] 

Again  the  American  people  are  assembled  in  mass  meetings  through- 
out the  nation,  while  the  States  once  more  rock  in  the  throes  of  a  revo- 
lution. Once  more  the  cry  to  arms  reverberates  throughout  the  land ; 
but  this  time  we  war  against  domestic  foes.  Treason  has  raised  its  black 
flag  near  the  tomb  of  Washington,  and  the  Union  of  our  States  hangs 
her  fate  upon  the  bayonet  and  the  sword.  Accursed  be  the  hand  that 
would  not  use  the  bayonet — blighted  be  the  arm  that  would  not  wield 
the  sword  in  such  a  cause !  Everything  that  the  American  citizen  holds 
dear  hangs  upon  the  issue  of  this  contest.  Our  national  honor  and 
reputation  demand  that  rebellion  shall  not  triumph  on  our  soil.  In  the 
name  of  our  heroic  dead,  in  the  name  of  our  numberless  victories  upon 
the  battle-field,  in  the  name  of  our  thousand  peaceful  triumphs,  in  the 
name  of  our  unexampled  national  prosperity,  our  Union  must  and  shall 
be  preserved.  [Enthusiastic  cheers.] 

Our  peaceful  triumphs !  These  are  really  the  important  victories 
which  we  should  be  jealous  to  guard.  They  are  worth  fighting  for ; 
they  are  worth  dying  for.  They  are  fostered  and  multiplied  under  the 
protection  of  the  "  Union  ;"  otherwise  the  term  "  Union  "  were  but  empty 
sound.  Let  others  recount  their  marshal  glories ;  they  shall  be  eclipsed 


61 

by  the  charity  and  the  grace  of  the  triumphs  which  have  been  achieved 
in  peace.  "  Peace  hath  her  victories,  not  less  renowned  than  War,"  and 
the  hard-earned  fruits  of  these  victories  rebellion  shall  not  take  from  us. 
[Cries  of  "  No,"  "  No,"  "  Never."]  Our  peaceful  triumphs  !  Who  shall 
enumerate  their  value  to  the  millions  yet  unborn  ?  What  nation,  in  so 
short  a  time,  has  won  so  many  ?  On  the  land  and  on  the  sea,  in  the 
realms  of  science  and  in  the  world  of  art,  we  everywhere  have  gathered 
our  honors,  and  have  won  our  garlands.  Upon  the  altars  of  the  States 
they  yet  lie,  fresh  from  the  gathering,  while  their  happy  influences  fill 
the  land. 

Of  the  importance  and  value  of  our  thousand  peaceful  triumphs,  time 
will  permit  me  to  mention  only  one,  which  is  yet  fresh  in  the  memory  of 
us  all.  It  is  now  two  years  ago,  when  up  the  waters  of  the  Potomac, 
toward  the  Capital,  sailed  the  representatives  of  an  empire  till  then  shut 
out  from  intercourse  with  all  Christian  nations.  In  the  eastern  seas 
there  lay  an  empire  of  islands,  which  hitherto  had  enjoyed  no  recog- 
nition in  the  Christian  world,  other  than  its  name  upon  the  map.  No 
history,  so  far  as  we  know,  illumined  it — no  ancient  time-mark  told  of  its 
advance,  step  by  step,  in  the  march  of  improvement.  There  it  had 
rested  for  thousands  of  years,  wrapped  in  the  mysteries  of  its  own  ex- 
clusiveness,  "  gloomy,  dark,  peculiar."  It  had  been  supposed  to  possess 
great  power,  and  vague  rumors  had  attributed  to  it,  ingenious  arts  to  us 
unknown.  Against  nearly  all  the  world,  for  thousands  of  yeais,  Japan 
had  obstinately  shut  her  doors.  The  wealth  of  the  Christian  world  could 
not  tempt  her  cupidity,  the  wonders  of  the  Christian  world  could  not 
excite  her  curiosity.  There  she  lay,  sullen  and  alone,  the  phenomenon 
of  nations.  England  and  France  and  the  other  powerful  Governments  of 
Europe  had  at  various  times  tried  to  conquer  this  oriental  exclusiveness, 
but  the  Portuguese  only  partially  succeeded,  while  all  the  rest  signally 
failed.  At  length,  we,  bearing  at  our  masthead  the  glorious  old 
stars  and  stripes,  approach  the  mysterious  portals,  and  seek  an  entrance. 
Not  with  cannon  and  implements  of  death  do  we  demand  admission,  but 
appreciating  the  saying  of  Euripides,  that 

"  Resistless  eloquence  shall  open 
The  gates  that  steel  exclude," 

we  peacefully  appeal  to  that  sense  of  right,  which  is  the  "  touch  of  nature 
that  makes  the  whole  world  kin,"  and  behold,  the  interdiction  is  re- 
moved, the  doors  of  the  mysterious  empire  fly  open,  and  a  new  garland 
is  woven,  to  crown  the  monument  of  our  commercial  conquests.  [Loud 
applause.] 

Who  shall  set  limit  to  the  gain  that  may  follow  this  one  victory  of 
peace,  if  our  Government  be  perpetuated  so  as  to  gather  it  for  the  gene- 
rations? Who  shall  say,  in  an  unbroken,  undivided  Union,  that  the 
opening  of  the  ports  of  Japan  shall  not  accomplish  for  the  present  era  all 
that  the  Reformation,  the  art  of  printing,  steam  and  the  telegraph  have 
done  within  the  last  three  hundred  years?  New  avenues  of  wealth  are 
thrown  open,  new  fields  are  to  be  occupied,  arts  new  to  us,  doubtless, 
are  to  be  studied  and  to  be  Americanized,  and  science,  perhaps,  from 
that  arcana  of  nations,  has  revelations  to  make  to  us,  equal  to  anything 
which  we  have  ever  learned  before.  Reciprocity  bids  us  to  extend  what- 


62 

ever  is  valuable  in  our  system  of  Government  over  this  new  convert  to 
our  national  policy.  Fifty  millions  of  people  there  are  to  be  enlightened ; 
the  printing-press  is  to  catch  the  daily  thought  and  stamp  it  upon  the 
page;  the  magnetic  wire  must  yet  vibrate  along  her  highways,  and 
Niphon  must  be  made  to  tremble  to  her  centre,  at  each  heart-beat  of  our 
ocean  steamers,  as  they  sweep  through  her  waters  or  thunder  round  her 
island  homes.  [Cries  of  "  Good,"  and  applause.]  All  hail !  all  hail !  to 
these  children  of  the  morning.  All  hail !  all  hail !  to  the  great  Republic 
of  the  West,  that  ushers  them  into  life.  From  every  age  that  has  passed 
there  comes  a  song  of  praise  for  the  treaty  that  has  been  consummated. 
The  buried  masters  of  three  thousand  years  start  again  to  life,  and  march 
in  solemn  and  in  grand  procession,  before  the  eyes  of  these  new-found 
empires.  Homer  with  his  songs,  Greece  with  her  arts,  Rome  with  her 
legions,  and  America  with  her  heroes,  all  come  to  them  with  the  novelty 
and  freshness  of  the  newly-born.  Wipe  off  the  mould  which  time  has 
gathered  upon  their  tombs,  and  let  them  all  come  forth  and  answer,  at 
the  summons  of  new-born  rations,  that  call  them  again  to  life;  wrapped 
in  the  winding-sheet  of  eighteen  centuries,  the  fishermen  of  Galilee  tell 
to  these  strangers  the  story  of  the  resurrection ;  clutching  in  their  hands 
their  dripping  blades,  the  warriors  recount  their  conquests  ;  and  joined  at 
last  in  harmonious  brotherhood,  Copernicus,  with  bony  fingers  pointing 
upAvard,  tells  to  Confucius  his  story  of  the  stars.  [Loud  and  enthu- 
siastic cheering.] 

Fellow-citizens,  I  have  spoken  of  but  one  of  our  many  peaceful  triumphs. 
In  this  I  may  have  been  guilty  of  a  digression  from  the  subject  which 
calls  us  together ;  but  my  aim  has  been  to  hold  up  our  commercial  con- 
quests, gained  while  a  law-abiding,  united  people,  as  eminently  worthy  of 
all  the  sacrifice  of  blood  and  treasure  that  we  are  called  upon  to  make, 
in  order  to  secure  their  legitimate  fruits.  It  is  really  our  numerous  vic- 
tories of  peace,  such  as  that  of  which  I  have  spoken,  that  make  us,  as  a 
nation,  the  wonder  of  the  world.  And  let  it  be  remembered  that  it  was 
freedom,  not  slavery,  that  won  these  triumphs;  it  is  freedom  that  must 
defend  them.  I  appeal  to  you,  shall  all  these  peaceful  honors  of 
our  people,  shall  all  these  hopes  of  the  future,  shall  all  these  promised 
fruits  from  the  struggles  of  the  past,  be  swept  away  by  the  dissolution  of 
the  Union  and  the  destruction  of  the  Government?  Forbid  it,  Almighty 
God !  Kather  perish,  rather  a  thousand  times  perish,  the  cause  of  the 
rebellion,  and  over  the  ruins  of  Slavery  let  peace  once  more  resume  her 
sway,  and  let  the  cannon's  lips  grow  cold.  [Vociferous  cheering.]  Delenda 
est  Carthago,  said  the  old  Roman  patriot,  when  gloom  settled  upon  his 
state ;  the  rebellion  must  be  crushed,  with  the  same  determination  say 
we  all  to-day.  [Applause.]  The  cannon  that  opened  the  fire  upon  Fort 
Sumter  reverberated  from  the  Penobscot  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and 
has  called  the  northern  lion  from  his  lair.  Down  with  party,  sect  and 
class,  and  up  with  a  sentiment  of  unanimity  when  our  country  calls  to 
arms.  Massachusetts,  glorious  old  Massachusetts,  first  at  the  cradle  of 
liberty  in  1776,  she  will  be  the  last  at  the  grave,  if  fate  intends  that 
grave  shall  ever  be.  Again  the  "  bones  of  her  sons  lie  mingling  and 
bleaching  with  the  soil  of  every  State  from  Maine  to  Georgia,  and  there 
they  will  lie  forever."  From  her  new-made  graves  she  sends  forth  a 
constant  prayer  to  Heaven,  and  let  traitors  tremble  lest  that  prayer  be 


63 

answered.  New-York  must  not  be  behind  J;he  Old  Bay  State.  In  the 
spirit  world,  Warren  calls  to  Hamilton  and  Hamilton  calls  back  to 
Warren,  that  hand  in  hand  their  mortal  children  go  on  together,  to  fame, 
to  victory,  or  to  the  grave.  The  hosts  of  the  Union  are  already  mar- 
shaled in  the  field  ;  but  a  call  is  made  for  more,  and  that  call  must  not 
be  in  vain.  [Cries  of  "  No,  no."]  When  the  ranks  are  full,  let  us  catch 
inspiration  from  the  past,  and  under  its  influence  go  forth  to  conflict. 
Go  call  the  rolls  on  Bemis  Heights,  on  the  plains  of  Monmouth,  or  at 
Yorktown,  where  the  sheeted  dead  may  rise  as  witness,  and  there  pro- 
pose to  your  legions  the  dissolution  of  this  Union,  and  there  receive  their 
answer.  Mad  with  frenzy,  burning  with  indignation  at  the  thought,  all 
ablaze  for  vengeance  upon  the  traitors,  such  will  be  the  fury  and  im- 
petuosity of  the  onset,  that  all  opposition  shall  be  swept  before  them,  as 
the  pigmy  yields  to  the  avalanche  that  comes  tumbling,  rumbling,  thun- 
dering from  its  Alpine  home.  [Loud  cheering.]  Let  us  gather  at  the 
tomb  of  Washington,  and  invoke  his  spirit  to  direct  us  in  the  combat. 
Rising  again  incarnate  from  the  tomb,  in  one  hand  holding  the  same  old 
flag,  blackened  and  begrimed  by  the  smoke  of  a  seven  years'  war,  with 
the  other  hand  he  points  us  to  the  foe.  Up  and  at  them.  Let  patriotic 
fires  thrill  our  very  souls,  while  immortal  spirits  direct  oar  way.  One 
blow,  deep,  effectual  and  forever — one  crushing  blow  upon  rebellion,  in 
the  name  of  God,  Washington  and  the  Republic. 

Three  enthusiastic  cheers  were  proposed  and  given  with  a  will 
to  Mr.  ALLEN,  as  he  concluded  and  took  his  seat. 

"  Hail  Columbia,"  by  the  Band. 

SPEECH  OF  REV.  DR.   HITCHCOCK. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  HITCHCOCK  next  took  his  place  on  the  stand. 
He  was  rather  heated  when  he  rose,  and  took  the  opportunity  of 
turning  the  same  to  advantage  in  his  remarks,  which  were  to  the 
following  effect  :— 

FELLOW-CITIZENS, — This  sun  is  hot,  but  remember  that  it  is  not  so  hot 
as  that  sun  which  flames  upon  our  brethren  from  a  Virginia  sky.  Nor  is 
that  sun,  that  Virginia  sun,  half  so  hot  as  the  fire  of  the  artillery  and 
musketry  which  blazes  around  those  heroes  who  are  now  fighting  for  our 
cause,  with  this  motto  for  their  guide,  "  A  glorious  victory,  or  death." 
Nor  is  that  fire  of  battle  so  hot  as  the  fire  of  the  hate  of  those  who  are 
now  in  rebellion  against  the  Government  of  our  country,  who  are  shed- 
ding the  life-blood  of  our  brethren,  against  whom  they  are  drawn  up  in 
battle  array.  My  fellow-citizens  of  the  great  city  of  New- York,  this 
meeting  reminds  me  of  the  immense  gathering  which  took  place  in  this 
great  commercial  metropolis — the  first  great  gathering  of  April,  1861. 
The  month  is  an  eventful  one  in  our  American  history.  It  has  its  lights 
and  its  shadows,  it  is  full  of  mingled  opposites — at  one  time  light,  and 
at  another  time  dark.  It  was  in  this  month  of  April  that  we  had  our 


64 

Concord  and  our  Lexington..   It  was  also  in  this  month  of  April  that  we 
had  the  attack  upon  and  fall  of  Sumter.       It  was  in  this  month  of  April 
that  our  brave  soldiers  were  beset  and  brutally  murdered  in  Baltimore. 
This  meeting  takes  place  in  July,  and  July  is  also  notable  in  our  history 
as  the  month  in  which   the   Declaration   of  Independence  was  signed. 
April  is  a  spring  month,  July  is  a  harvest  month.     Fifteen  months  ago — 
in  April,  during  the  spring — we  planted  the  seed  of  loyalty  to  the  Ame- 
rican Union,  and  it  shall  bring  forth  a  glorious  harvest  throughout  this 
promising  land.      Let  us  with  heart  and  voice,  word   and  deed,  reassure 
our  brethren  in  the  field  and  give  the  word  of  cheer  to  our  armies.     I  call 
this  meeting  one  of  reaffirmation.     We  are  to  day  to  reaffirm  what  we 
resolved  upon  fifteen  months  ago.     What  we  planted  in  stormy  spring  is 
to  be  taken  care  of  during  this  generous  summer.      What  we  did   then 
was  the  result  of  instinct ;  now  it  has  become  a  deep-rooted  conviction. 
It  was  passion  which  then  guided  us ;  now  it  is  principle.     It  may  be 
that  on  the  occasion  of  our  former  meeting  our  huzzas  were  louder ;  but 
now  I  can  see  it  in  your  faces,  our  resolutions  are  deeper,  and   when  we 
now  strike  we  shall  strike  as  doth  the  lightning — once  and  for  all.      W~e 
to  day  reaffirm  our  resolution  to  preserve  the  integrity  of  our  land,   our 
power,  our  interests,  and  our  continent.     In  our  uttered  determinations 
then  we  were  wiser  than  we  knew  of.     We  merely  said  it  then  ;  we  un- 
derstand it  now.     This  continent  must  and  shall  remain  united,  one  and 
inseparable,  and  must  be  so  until  the  end  of  time.     [Applause.]     This 
is  a  struggle  between  a  rebellious  confederacy  and  our  Government ;  and 
what  for  \     Not  for  the  vague  abstraction  it  purports  to  be,  but  for  a  re- 
mote but  still  more  important  issue — the  domination  of  this  continent. 
They  or  we  will  have  to  rule  this  vast  land  from  the  St.  Croix  to  the  Rio 
Grande,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.     And  I  say  unto  you,  men 
of  the  city  of  New-York,  shall  it  be  we,  the  men  of  the  Christian  North, 
or  shall  it  be  sons  of  ihe  sunny  South,  as  they  delight  to  call  themselves, 
who   are,  and  have  proved   themselves,  robbers  by  land,  and  if  they 
had   a  fleet  upon  the  sea,  would  also  be  pirates.      [Applause.]     This 
is  the  issue,   and  it   must  be   determined   sooner   or   later.     Citizens 
of  New-York,  are  you  men  enough  to  say  you  will  take  the  issue  on 
your  own  shoulders,  or  leave  it  for  your   posterity  ?     Can  you  look 
upon  your  babes  now  resting  in  their  cradles,  and  bequeath  to  them 
the  settlement  of  this  great  question  ?     Will  you  leave  it  for  the  next 
generation  to  settle  this  question  ?      [Loud   cries  of   "  No,  no."]      It 
must  be  determined  now  or  never.     It  can  be  more  easily  settled  now 
than  by  any  conjunction  in  the  future.   We  contend  for  the  supremacy  of 
our  Government,  and  we  will  do  so  if  we  have  to  make  a  Thermopylae  of 
it,  and  defend  the  gate  till  all  have  fallen;  or  else  we  shall  have  to  sub- 
mit to  a  military  despotism  which  would  march  over  the  bleeding  corpses 
of  our  comrades  to  rule  us  with  a  rod  of  iron.      I  stand  here  to  defend 
the  glorious  republican  idea  which  has  gained  to  us  the  laurels  that  crown 
the   brow  of  our  glorious  goddess  Liberty.     We  must  defend  the  old 
republic,  for  if  we  fail  the  republicans  of  the  Old  World  will  lose  heart 
forever.     We  must  vindicate  our  republican  existence,  and  not  only  vin- 
dicate it  in  its  geographical  integrity,  but  in  its  political  glory — not  only 
for  ourselves,  but  for  all  mankind.     ["Bravo,"  and  applause.]     The  Ame- 
rican people  have  learned  something  during  the  past  fifteen  months.      I 


65 

have  been  in  the  country  among  the  farm-houses  where  families  are  more 
scattered,  and  where  one  taken  from  the  originally  compact  family  circle 
is  missed,  not  only  by  those  who  form  that  circle,  but  by  their  neighbors. 
The  war  in  those  cases  has  been  brought  home  to  the  hearts  of  many. 
I  have  seen  women  stand  at  the  doors  of  their  houses  eagerly  and  anxiously 
waiting  for  the  return  of  their  wounded  husbands,  brothers,  sons,  or  still 
more  anxiously  trying  to  learn  some  tidings  of  one  who  fell  at  Fair  Oaks, 
Games'  Mills,  at  White  Oak  Swamp,  or  elsewhere.  Men  die  in  the  great 
city,  and  they  are  scarcely  missed,  except  in  their  more  immediate  circle ; 
but  in  the  country  the  case  is  far  different.  These  are  matters  of  deep 
thought,  and  the  people  are  thinking  deeper  than  ever.  They  are  think- 
ing very  fast.  The  new  call  is  also  a  matter  of  thought,  and  although  I 
cannot  doubt  that  the  quota  of  New- York  will  be  filled,  and  quickly,  too, 
I  cannot  shut  my  eyes  to  the  fact  that  it  is  not  responded  to  with  that 
marked  alacrity  as  that  which  characterized  the  former  call.  There  must 
be  a  reason  for  this,  and  the  Government  should  know  it.  It  is  not  the 
fear  of  the  adversary  they  have  to  encounter ;  but  it  is  the  fear  that  the 
Administration  will  not  themselves  carry  the  war  through  in  a  proper 
manner.  The  men  of  America  have  pluck,  and  do  not  fear  to  die  for 
their  country.  They  will  enlist,  but  there  is  a  condition  which  they  de- 
mand. That  condition  is,  [with  great  energy,]  fight,  fight,  fight.  We 
have  had  play  long  enough,  and  now  must  have  fight.  Fight  and  with 
the  right  hand  and  not  with  the  left,  and  only  the  little  finger  of  that 
hand  at  the  best.  We  must  have  fight  with  the  right  hand.  [A  voice, 
"  With  both  hands."]  Wait  till  I  get  through.  Yes,  [clenching  both 
fists  and  stretching  them  out  with  convulsive  energy,]  fight ;  fight  with 
both  hands.  And  that  is  not  all.  I  say  let  all  the  colors  fight.  All. 
From  the  one  extreme  of  the  Caucasian  white  to  the  other  extreme  of 
the  Caucasian  black — let  them  all  fight,  and  let  all  the  people  that  make 
up  the  different  and  beautiful  shades  between  these  extremes  fight.  Let 
all  the  people  fight.  Elijah  saw  in  the  heavens  the  chariots  of  fire  of  the 
Lord  of  Hosts.  Then  let  the  rebels  have  their  five  hundred  thousand 
men ;  we  have  the  chariots  and  horses  of  fire,  and  they  are  round  about 
us.  We  have  the  spirits  of  those  heroes  of  old  who  have  gone  to  their 
rest.  We  have  also  the  spirits  of  those  sages  and  heroes  who  have  stood 
up  for  us  in  foreign  lands,  or  who  have  pined  in  foreign  dungeons  for 
contending  for  our  rights.  And  all  good  angels  are  looking  down  upon 
us.  And  these  will  guide  us  on  to  victory.  I  say  unto  you,  men  of  New- 
York,  we  must  win,  and,  in  the  end,  despite  all  seeming  adversities,  the 
right  must  triumph.  [Enthusiastic  cheering.] 

9 


OFFICERS. 


STAND   No.  4. 

Under  charge  of  Committee  of  Arrangements, 
JAMES  W.  WHITE,  ROBERT  H.  McCURDY. 


President. 

FRANCIS   LIBBER. 


Vice-Presideiits. 


WILLIAM  CURTIS  NOYES, 

STEWART  BROWN, 

MORRIS  KETCHUM, 

C.  V.  S.  ROOSEVELT, 

WILLIAM  E.  DODGE, 

CYRUS  W.  FIELD, 

WILLIAM  M.  EYARTS, 

HENRY  E.  PIERREPONT, 

GEORGE  GRISWOLD,  Jr., 

WM.  H.  ASPINWALL, 

GULIAN  C.  VERPLANOK, 

PETEK  LORILLARD, 

JAMES  BENKARD, 

FRANCIS  VINTON, 

FRANCIS  HALL, 

JACOB  A.  WESTERVELT, 

HERMAN  RASTER, 
THOMAS  W.  CLERKE, 
JAMES  B.  NICHOLSON, 
MARSHALL  0.  ROBERTS, 
WOLCOTT  GIBBS, 
EDGAR  KETCHUM, 
ROBERT  L.  STUART, 
ALEXANDER  H.  STEVENS, 
ELIJAH  FISHER, 
FREDERICK  KAPF, 
BENJ.  WELCH,  Jr., 
JAMES  W.  FARR, 
CHARLES  B.  SPICER, 
DON  ALONZO  CUSHMAN, 
HENRY  F.  SPALDING, 
SIMEON  BALDWIN, 
GEORGE  L.  SCHUYLER, 
RICHARD  HECKSCHER, 
JAMES  KEARNEY  WARREN, 
WILLIAM  ASTOR, 


J.  N.  A.  GRISWOLD, 
PIERRE  V.  DUFLON, 
ALPHEUS  FOBES, 
DAVID  R.  JAQUES, 
JOHN  EWEN, 
EDWARD  H.  LUDLOW, 
ROBERT  LsRoy, 
ELLIOT  C.  COWDIN, 
ADAM  W.  SPIES, 
GEORGE  F.  WOODWARD, 
SAMUEL  S.  SANDS, 
GEORGE  A.  ROBBINS, 
FRANCIS  G.  SHAW, 
ROBERT  G.  REMSEN, 
STEPHEN  H.  TYNG, 
VALENTINE  MOTT, 
HENRY  D.  SEDGWICK, 
DAVID  GOLDEN  MURRAY, 
MOSES  S.  BEACH, 
GEORGE  FOLSOM, 
CAMBRIDGE  LIVINGSTON, 
JOHN  L.  ASPINWALL, 
ROBERT  EMMET, 
JOHN  D.  JONES, 
C.  S.  FRANKLIN, 
HENRY  FORD, 
J.  C.  PETERS, 
BENJAMIN  FLOYD, 
CHARLES  POMROY, 
JOHN  MEEKS, 
PARKE  GODWIN. 
JOHN  B.  WICKERSHAM. 
JOHN  STEVENSON, 
I.  M.  SINGER, 
CHARLES  B.  CLINCH, 
JOSEPH  FOULKE, 


67 

CLARKSON  N.  POTTER,  RICHARD  STORKS  WILLIS, 

JOSEPH  BRIDGHAM,  HAMILTON  BRUCE, 

HENRY  B.  SMITH,  HENRY  KERR, 

ISAAC  FERRIS,  EDWARD  CARNEY, 

A.  E.  SILLIMAN,  ISAAC  H.  BAILEY, 

MAUNSELL  B.  FIELD,  AUGUSTUS  WEISSMAN, 

DAVID  Dows,  H.  B.  STANTON, 

ISAAC  BELL,  STEPHEN  PHILBIN, 

GEORGE  S.  COE,  JOHN  R.  LAWRENCE, 

C.  L.  MONELL,  RICHARD  M.  HOE, 

HENRY  K.  BOGERT,  WARREN  WARD, 

HENRY  C.  MURPHY,  CHRISTOPHER  WILLIAMS. 
WILLIAM  HEGEMAN, 


Secretaries. 

ROBERT  B.  MINTURN,  Jr.,  SAMUEL  WILLIAMS, 

CHARLES  E.  STRONG,  MATURIN  DELAFIELD, 

RICHARD  A.  McCuRDY,  BENJAMIN  W.  STRONG, 

RICHARD  L.  SUYDAM,  THEODORE  BRONSON, 

GEORGE  BRUCE,  Jr.,  WILLIAM  B  CROCKER, 

DAVID  BISHOP,  EDWARD  C.  MORRIS, 

W.  H.  L.  BARNES,  HENRY  S.  FEARING, 

A.  M.  PALMER,  DAVID  LYDIG, 

WILLIAM  BOND,  BYAM  K.  STEVENS,  Jr., 

NATHANIEL  COLES,  JAMES  LENOX  KENNEDY, 

JOHN  H.  ALMY,  A.  C.  KINGSLAND,  Jr., 

CEPHAS  BRAINARD,  GEORGE  B.  SATTERLEE, 

PIERRE  HUMBERT,  GEORGE  GRISWOLD  HAVEN. 


PKOGEAMME    OF    PROCEEDINGS. 


STAND    NO.    4, 


SALUTES  OF  ARTILLERY  "by  the  "ANTHON  LIGHT  BATTERY," 
and  by  the  WORKMEN  employed  by  HENRY  BREWSTER 
&Co. 

1.  GRAND  MARCH,  by  Grafula's  Grand  Band. 

2.  JAMES  W.  WHITE  will  call  the  meeting  to  order,  read  the 

Call  of  the  Meeting,   and  conduct  to   the   Chair,   FRANCIS 
LIBBER. 

3.  EGBERT  H.  McCuRDY  will  read  the  list  of  Yice-Presidents 

and  Secretaries. 

4.  The  Chairman,  FRANCIS  LIBBER,  will  address  the  meeting. 

5.  WILLIAM  CURTIS  NOYES  will  read  the  ADDRESS  adopted  by 

the  Convention  of  Committees. 

6.  MORRIS  KETCHUM  will  read  the  KESOLUTIONS  adopted  by  the 

Convention  of  Committees. 

7.  Music. 

8.  L.  B.  CHITTENDEN  will  address  the  meeting. 

9.  Music. 

10.  WILLIAM  ALLEN  BUTLER  will  address  the  meeting. 

11.  Music. 

12.  W.  J.  A.  FULLER. 

13.  Music. 

14.  R  A.  WITTHAUS. 


69 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Judge  JAMES  W.  WHITE, 
who  read  the  call  for  the  meeting,  and  nominated  for  Chairman 
Dr.  FRANCIS  LIEBER,  who  was  elected  with  applause. 

R  H.  McCuEDY  read  the  list  of  Vice-Presidents  and  Secreta- 
ries, which  was  adopted. 

DE.  LIBBER'S  REMARKS. 

FELLOW-CITIZENS, — You  have  conferred  on  me  the  honor  of  presiding 
here  on  this  important  day.  This  is  a  war  meeting.  In  the  midst  of  a 
vast  contest,  in  which  many  thousands  of  our  brethren  have  already  been 
slain,  in  which  almost  boundless  treasures  have  been  sacrificed,  and  in 
which  reverses  have  not  failed  to  break  in  upon  the  list  of  our  victories, 
the  President,  first  called  upon  by  the  governors  of  loyal  States,  has  in 
turn,  called  upon  us  to  furnish  new  bands  of  fellow-citizens,  to  send  more 
brothers,  more  sons,  so  that  this  odious  and  shameless  insurrection  may 
at  length  be  quelled.  Resolutions  will  be  read  to  you  for  your  acceptance, 
expressing  our  undiminished  loyalty,  our  firm  adhesion  to  the  principles 
for  which  we  have  already  struggled  so  long,  and  which  in  this  enormous 
war  we  prize  with  patriotic  fervor,  as  the  highest  civil  virtues  in  trying 
periods — fortitude,  perseverance  and  tenacity  to  the  last. 

And  why  all  this?  Why  this  call  upon  the  people  of  our  city  to 
take  a  renewed  oath  on  the  altar  of  our  country,  that  we  will  be  faithful 
and  true  to  her,  and  see  this  war  triumphantly  ended,  and  as  thoroughly 
carried  on,  until  it  be  ended,  as  the  ample  means  of  a  great  nation  will 
admit  of. 

Fellow- citizens,  near  the  beginning  of  this  century,  there  was  a  pa- 
triotic German  youth  and  noble  poet,  who  sang  and  fought  for  the  inde- 
pendence of  his  country,  and  ultimately  sealed  with  his  death  on  the  field 
what  he  had  nobly  sung.  It  happened  that  he  found  a  sealing-ring,  on 
which  was  engraved  an  arrow,  with  the  motto,  THROUGH.  This  aimple 
arrow,  and  that  brief  word,  inspired  the  youthful  patriot  with  a  poem, 
which  he  inscribed  THROUGH,  calling  on  his  country  not  to  waver,  but  to 
rally  round  the  standard  of  his  country's  independence,  and  to  fight 
through  to  a  successful  end  what  had  so  nobly  been  begun.  Is  this  not 
a  befitting  motto  for  us  to  adopt  in  this  grave  time  of  our  war  ?  Perhaps 
all  of  us  have  near  friends  or  children  or  brothers  that  have  fought — 
many  that  have  bled  in  that  long  Week's  Battle  ;  and  ought  not  our  war- 
cry  to  be  Through  ?  Ought  not  our  policy  to  be  Through,  through,  through  ? 
[Great  applause.]  Let  us  call  to  our  sceptered  servants,  Through,  and 
through  at  once !  Let  us  call  to  our  girded  servants,  Through !  Let 
us  call,  when  foreigners  may  show  a  desire  to  interfere  with  our  own 
affairs,  already  sufficiently  distressing — Hands  off;  we  will  not  listen  to 
any  one  until  we  are  through!  [Applause.]  We  ought  to  make  it  the 
watchword  among  ourselves,  and  call  on  one  another,  Through !  We 
ought  to  call  on  all  the  young,  fit  to  bear  arms,  Through,  through  !  ! 

Why  ?  Because  the  most  sacred  and  dearest  interests  of  man  in  his 
career  on  this  earth  are  involved  in  this  struggle — our  material  prosperity, 
our  moral  welfare,  our  honor,  our  national  existence.  He  that  shapes 
the  history  of  men  wills  us  to  be  a  nation,  and  modern  civilization  re- 
quires countries.  God  has  given  us  a  noble  country,  may  be  the  noblest 
on  earth,  which  we  will  not,  and  cannot,  allow  ourselves  to  be  robbed  of. 


70 

We  will  not  prove  false  to  our  trust.  Shall  we  allow  ignorance  and  ar- 
rogance and  barbarism  to  cut  up  the  great  map  of  our  heaven-united 
land  into  miserable  clippings,  leaving  nothing  but  a  litter  of  worthless 
pieces  ?  [No,  no !  never !]  Our  country,  our  proud  country,  from  sea 
to  sea,  with  her  majestic  rivers,  or  rather,  with  her  unique  river  system, 
and  the  glorious  help  of  the  canals,  with  her  teeming  mountains,  and  her 
fertile  fields — our  country,  with  all  her  food  and  fuel  and  substance  for 
shelter  and  clothing — our  country,  my  friends,  is  the  primary  condition 
of  our  social  and  political  existence,  and,  indeed,  of  our  own  American 
liberty.  With  all  due  regard  for  our  peculiar  system  of  States,  the  State 
lines  are,  after  all,  but  pencil  marks  on  the  great  map.  They  have  been 
changed,  and  will  be  changed  again.  They  are  not  those  deep  grooves 
that  history  furrows,  as  she  deeply  cuts  the  border  lines  of  nationalities. 
Not  so  with  our  country.  The  lines  that  mark  her  must  never  be  changed — 
at  least,  never  contracted.  [Applause.] 

Why  ?  Because  a  country  that  allows  foreign  governments  to  inter- 
fere with  her  domestic  and  national  affairs — that  permits  foreign  jealousy 
to  dictate  in  her  councils — is  disgraced  and  ruined ;  is  a  cripple  among  the 
nations — a  vassal  and  not  a  freeman.  Germany  can  furnish  you  with 
some  warning  commentaries,  ever  since  the  times  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth. 
Even  a  crowned  head  of  Germany,  a  noble  prince  of  a  petty  principality, 
told  his  countrymen,  recently,  that  in  modern  times  genuine  patriotism, 
void  of  narrow  provincialism,  cannot  prosper  in  a  confined  petty  State, 
still  less  in  a  mere  city-State.  And  is  there  no  danger  of  foreign  inter- 
ference ?  There  is ;  even  were  it  only  for  these  two  reasons,  that  Eng- 
land and  France  suffer  greatly  from  our  civil  war,  ajid  because  those  two 
powers,  which  have  always  been  unfriendly  to  the  formation  of  a  new 
united  power,  with  the  only  exception  of  Italy  in  our  own  times,  do  not 
relish  the  growth  of  United  American  power.  It  has  been  openly  ac- 
knowledged. 

Why  ?  Because  we  are  already  in  the  midst  of  a  gigantic  war,  ex- 
clusively waged,  on  our  part,  for  a  great  and  noble  idea.  Such  wars 
cannot  be  stopped  at  will ;  as  little  as  the  tide  can  be  bid  to  retire  by  a 
mop,  as  little  as  the  Reformation  could  be  calmed  and  stopped  by  the 
agreement  of  some  ecclesiastics.  Can  we  adopt  peace  founded  upon  the 
rending  of  this  country  ?  Where  will  you  rend  it  ?  how  will  you  keep 
peace  ?  Do  you  believe  that  we  would  have  peace  for  a  single  twelve- 
month after  a  division,  the  mere  thought  of  which  makes  us  shudder  ? 
We  speak  the  same  language,  inhabit  one  undivided  country,  have  the 
same  literature,  the  same  form  of  thoughts,  the  same  mould  of  feelings, 
the  same  institutions,  except  that  one  deplorable  one ;  we  would  daily 
and  hourly  influence  one  another,  and  what  with  their  unpunished-  pride 
and  selfishness,  their  maddened  and  contused  ambition,  and  their  en- 
thronement of  gigantic  error,  we  would  not  have  rest,  except  by  a  total 
and  unpardonable  submission  to  them,  and  not  even  then.  There  is  a 
law  that  pervades  all  history,  because  it  pervades  each  house,  that  in 
the  same  degree  as  nature  has  destined  people  to  live  in  the  bonds  of 
afi'ection  and  good-will,  so  will  their  quarrels  be  bitter,  and  their  mutual 
irritation  be  grievous,  when  they  once  separate  in  acrimony  and  hostility. 
Brothers  quarrel  bitterest,  when  they  quarrel  at  all.  We  had  better 
fight  it  out.  Complete  victory  alone  can  lead  to  a  reconcilement,  and 


revised  views  and  amended  feelings ;  and  therefore  I  say,  Through, 
through !  [Great  applause.] 

When  I  say  that  we  ought  to  shout  this  same  through,  in  the  loudest 
accents  to  our  people  fit  to  enlist,  I  must  not  be  understood  to  have  har- 
bored any  fear  that  there  is  not  a  sufficient  degree  of  patriotism  in  the 
breasts  of  our  people.  Far  from  it.  Never  has  a  people  shown  itself 
more  patriotic,  more  patient  and  forbearing,  more  ready. 

It  happens  that  this  very  morning  I  received  a  letter  from  a  distin- 
guished lawyer  and  legislator — a  true  Union  man — in  St.  Louis,  Missouri, 
and  in  that  letter  there  is  a  passing  passage  which,  (if  you  will  permit  rne 
to  read  it,)  you  will  perceive  chimes  in  with  the  theme  which  occupies  our 
attention  now.  He  says : 

"That  among  those  best  informed  no  apprehension  is  felt  for  the  new 
call  for  volunteers.  Governor  Gamble  has  received  more  than  fifty  letters, 
some  before,  some  since  the  call,  from  men  in  all  parts  of  this  State, 
(Missouri,)  asking  authority  to  recruit  companies,  regiments,  and  in  one 
case,  a  brigade — the  last  from  an  officer  just  recovered  from  a  wound, 
who  is  confident  of  raising  it.  In  Illinois  I  hear  of  the  same  spirit ;  the 
only  thing  which  may  for  a  while  check  rapid  enlistments,  being  the 
abundant  harvest  now  being  gathered."  [Cheers.] 

So  far  my  Missouri  friend.  But  there  is  another  thing  that  may 
temporarily  interfere,  or  at  least  somewhat  retard  the  desired  enlistment. 
The  call  for  recruits  is  comparatively  a  small  one.  The  President,  you 
know,  calls  for  three  hundred  thousand  men.  This  is,  in  fact,  a  large 
number  of  men,  but,  comparatively  speaking,  considering  the  population 
of  the  North,  it  is  a  small  number.  Only  about  fifty  thousand  are  re- 
quired from  this  State.  Now  who  doubts  if  there  had  been  a  necessity 
for  the  President  to  call  for  the  services  of  every  one  who  can  shoulder  a 
musket,  that  the  people  would  rush  en  masse,  in  response  to  the  call  ? 
But  when  a  limited  number  is  required  and  called  for,  many  of  the  fifty 
thousand  who  are  wanted,  are  disposed  to  say,  "  I  need  not  volun- 
teer ;  my  services  will  not  be  required,  for  my  neighbor  will  go."  For 
that  reason  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  we  ought  to  resort  to  the 
draftino-  law.  I  know  that  does  not  sound  well  to  the  ears  of  the 
Americans,  because  drafting  has  been  made  use  of  by  despotic  govern- 
ments, and  has  been  resorted  to  in  the  South,  by  what  I  have  not  the 
least  doubt  is  a  despotic  government.  But  drafting  is  not  necessarily  a 
despotic  measure.  The  advantage  of  it  would  be,  that  it  would  make 
recruiting  and  enlisting  more  regular.  If  the  Government  should  adopt 
such  a  measure,  I  think  it  would  work  well.  Drafting,  too,  would  touch 
the  wealthy  idlers,  at  least  so  far  as  to  make  them  contribute  a  round 
sum  for  a  substitute,  if  they  should  insist  upon  thrusting  away  the  sword 
which  their  country  offers  them,  and  decline  the  honor  to  fight  for  their 
imperiled  country.  At  any  rate,  as  men  are  wanted  speedily,  the  adop- 
tion of  this  system  would  give  us  the  men  immediately,  while  the  small 
number  called  for,  and  the  approaching  harvest,  may  have  a  tendency  to 
prevent  the  rush  of  young  men  which  would  otherwise  take  place. 

Fellow-citizens,  I  have  spoken  a  longer  time  than  is  appropriate  for 
the  initiatory  remarks  of  a  presiding  officer ;  but  who  can  help  it,  in  times 
like  these,  on  themes  like  ours  ? 

The  declaration  and  resolutions  will  now  be  read  to  you. 

Dr.  LIEBER  sat  down  amid  prolonged  applause. 


72 

The  ADDRESS  was  then  read  by  W.  J.  A.  FULLER,  and  the 
RESOLUTIONS  by  FRANCIS  KETCHOI,  and  they  were  adopted 
with  unanimity  and  cheers. 

SPEECH  OF  L.  E.  CHITTENDEX. 

FELLOW-CITIZENS, — I  have  taken  myself  out  of  the  changeless  routine 
of  the  Treasury  Department,  in  Washington,  and  have  come  here  hoping 
to  find  myself  among  a  live  people.  [A  voice,  "  You  will."]  Yes,  I 
hope  there  is  a  people  here  alive  to  the  necessities  of  the  present 
moment.  Fellow-citizens,  the  voice  of  sixteen  months  of  war,  tells  us  in 
tones  that  must  be  heeded,  that  the  time  for  talking  has  passed ;  that 
the  time  has  come,  when  it  is  the  duty  of  every  citizen  of  a  loyal 
State,  to  offer  his  services  to  the  Government  in  whatever  capacity  they 
may  be  most  available.  If  I  had  not  offered  mine  before  I  came  here,  I 
would  not  appear  before  you  to-day.  [Applause.]  I  am  so  full  of  this 
subject,  that  I  do  not  like  to  trust  myself  to  talk  about  it.  I  come  from  a 
city,  and  that  city  the  capital  of  this  nation,  in  which  we  were  cut  off 
for  a  week  from  communication  with  you,  by  traitors — where  barricaded 
corridors,  forts,  and  earthworks,  spoke  eloquently  of  attacks  impending 
from  an  armed  enemy.  This  was  a  long  year  ago,  and  yet,  after  all  the 
preparation,  after  all  the  expense  which  that  year  has  witnessed,  it  is 
not  eight  weeks  since  loyal  men  were  alarmed  for  the  safety  of  that  very 
city !  We  who  live  in  close  proximity  to  the  enemy,  nay,  with  the 
minions  of  that  enemy  by  hundreds  among  us,  appreciate  the  dangers  by 
which  we  are  surrounded.  Men  of  New-York,  I  wish  for  one  short  hour 
you  could  be  made  to  realize  the  necessity  which  this  moment  presses  on 
you.  Do  you  consider  this  Government  worth  preserving  ?  [Cries  of 
Yes  !  Yes!]  Is  this  free  Republic,  planted  by  your  ancestors,  nourished 
by  their  blood,  left  to  you  as  their  richest  legacy,  worth  preserving  !  Do 
you  feel,  that  you,  your  wives,  your  children,  have  an  interest  in  it  which 
ought  to  be  dearer  than  their  lives  ?  [Loud  cries  of  "  Yes."]  Yes,  you  do. 
Then  let  me  tell  you,  that  perhaps  the  day  may  be  approaching,  it  may 
be  near,  when  every  one  of  you  who  can  shoulder  a  musket  or  draw  a 
sabre,  will  be  obliged  to  do  it  if  this  nation  is  to  live. 

Gentlemen,  the  South  went  into  this  war  with  a  purpose.  [A  voice, 
"That's  so."]  They  have  never  debated  questions  about  which  our 
Congress  and  our  Government  have  wasted  so  much  time.  These  rebels 
declared  at  first,  "  We  propose  to  overthrow  your  Government,  to  utterly 
destroy  it."  They  began  by  confiscating  every  dollar  of  debts  owed  by 
Southern  men  to  the  North.  They  followed  it  up  by  imprisoning  every 
man  within  their  reach  who  was  in  sympathy  with  the  Union  and  the 
Government  which  we  inherited  from  Washington  and  the  Fathers  of  the 
Republic ;  not  only  that,  but  they  said  to  us  in  effect,  "  We  propose  to 
fight  you,  to  take  your  property,  to  destroy  your  lives.  To  accomplish 
this,  we  will  use  every  means  within  our  grasp  ;  we  will  use  Indian  savages 
as  our  allies ;  we  will  tear  open  the  graves  of  your  dead,  and  make  mer- 
chandise of  the  bones  from  which  the  worms  have  not  yet  stripped 
the  uncorrupted  flesh ;  we  will  go  into  battle  with  the  '  no  quarter  '  cry  of 
the  red-handed  barbarian  upon  our  lips,  and  the  black  flag  of  the  pirate 
waving  over  our  heads."  Such  ideas  as  these  fired  the  Southern  heart 
sixteen  months  ago  when  they  fired  the  first  gun  at  Fort  Suvuter,  and  the 


73 

history  of  the  times  tells  how  well  they  have  carried  them  into  prac  ice 
What  have  we  been  doing  all  this  time  !  We  have  been  treating  these 
gentlemen  with  the  most  distinguished  consideration.  [A  voice,  "That's 
so."]  We  could  not  confiscate  their  property !  Oh,  no !  Nothing  but 
a  life  interest  in  it !  All  the  rest  we  are  bound  under  the  Constitution 
to  protect.  But,  gentlemen,  it  is  no  pleasure  to  me,  it  cannot  be  to  any 
one,  to  dwell  upon  the  policy  which  we  have  pursued  since  the  rebellion 
broke  out.  Out  of  it  stands  patent  and  undisguised,  this  great,  this  import- 
ant, this,  to  many  a  household,  solemn  fact — that  the  soil  of  rebel  States  has 
been  crimsoned  with  the  blood  of  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand 
brave  and  loyal  men,  and  still  rebellion  is  as  defiant  as  ever.  Has 
not  this  gone  far  enough?  [Loud  cries  of  "Yes,  yes!"]  Has  not 
the  time  come  to  declare  war,  and  a  vigorous  war  against  the  South ! 
War  with  all  its  consequences  to  persons  and  to  property  ?  ["  Yes,  yes  !" 
and  tremendous  cheers.]  Yes,  and  would  to  Heaven  the  voice  with 
which  you  speak  it,  might  reach  the  Congress  and  the  Cabinet  which 
just  now  need  encouragement  like  that! 

At  this  moment  a  procession  of  sailors  with  bands  and  banners 
passed  by.  It  was  composed  of  ship-carpenters  from  the  Navy 
Yard,  and  the  enthusiasm  increased  when  three  rousing  cheers 
were  given  for  the  Navy.  The  scene  was  a  splendid  one  as  they 
marched  round  the  Square. 

Mr.  CHITTENDEN  continued  : 

This  is  no  time  for  fault-finding  or  complaint.  I  care  not,  I  do  not  ask,  who 
has  been  responsible  for  the  policy  upon  which  the  war  has  been  conducted. 
We  have  tried  it — it  has  failed,  and  is  it  not  high  time  to  change  it  ?  [Loud 
cries  of  "  Yes !"]  Let  us  have  no  more  protection  of  the  persons  or  the 
property  of  disloyal  men.  I  have  met  officers  of  our  army  from  the 
valley  of  the  Shenandoah  who  drew  a  picture  of  the  vigorous  manner  in 
which  the  property  of  rebels  there  was  guarded.  These  men  were  in  the 
Southern  army — all  of  them.  Their  women  derided  and  abused  Union 
soldiers.  Sick  men  lay  in  miserable  hovels  and  died  there,  while  splendid 
residences  of  rebel  owners  stood  close  by.  A  soldier  could  not  take  so 
much  as  a  chicken  without  being  punished  for  it.  By  and  by  Stonewall 
Jackson  sweeps  up  the  valley  with  an  overwhelming  force,  and  our  retreat- 
ing troops  are  shot  down  from  the  windows  of  the  very  houses  they 
have  saved  from  destruction.  [A  voice,  "Destroy  the  inhabitants."] 
Gentlemen,  I  assert  that  it  is  time  to  proclaim  to  every  Winchester  in 
the  so-called  Southern  Confederacy,  that  there  shall  not  be  left  one  article 
above  ground  in  such  a  town,  that  fire  can  consume !  [Great  enthusiasm.] 
Let  our  policy  be  every  piece  of  property  belonging  to  a  rebel  that  will  do  a 
Union  man  good,  take  it ;  if  it  won't  do  him  any  good,  burn  it.  [Tremen- 
dous cheers  and  cries  of  "  That's  the  talk."]  Gentlemen,  we  have  been 
fighting  the  rebels  and  Providence,  too.  That  is  an  unequal  warfare. 
The  slavery  question  lies  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole.  That  was  the 
cause  of  this  rebellion,  we  all  know.  [Cheers,  and  cries  of  "  That's  so."] 
I  believe  it  is  one  of  the  eternal  decrees  of  Providence,  that  with  this 
war  slavery  in  this  republic  shall  die.  [Loud  cheering.]  When  the 

10 


74 

North  accepts  this  truth,  and  goes  into  the  war  understanding  it,  and  pre- 
pared to  carry  it  out,  then  disaster  and  disgrace  will  cease  to  attend  our 
arms.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  shall  we  be  successful. 

I  have  no  special  admiration  for  the  negro,  as  all  know  who  know  me. 
But  the  negro  is  a  great  fact  in  this  contest,  and  we  cannot  get  rid  of 
him  if  we  would.  Now,  I  would  treat  him  in  this  connection  as  I  would 
treat  any  other  person  or  thing.  Is  he  of  use  to  the  enemy  ?  Take  him 
away  !  Can  he  be  made  use  of  to  our  men  ?  Let  them  use  him  !  Why 
all  this  idle  sensitiveness  on  account  of  the  negro  ?  He  can  dig  a  ditch  ; 
he  can  build  an  earthwork;  he  can  do  a  thousand  things  which  wear  out 
the  lives  of  your  soldiers,  better  than  they.  Let  him  do  them !  My 
doctrine  is  to  put  this  whole  subject  under  the  control  of  the  commanders 
of  our  armies.  They  understand  it  better  than  you  or  I.  Do  not  hamper 
them  with  restrictions  or  conditions.  Only  let  this  fact  be  thundered  into 
the  ears  of  every  disloyal  man  North  or  South.  There  is  no  law,  there 
is  no  officer,  civil  or  military,  which  will  aid  a  rebel  to  recapture  his 
slave.  [Cries  of  good,  and  cheers.]  The  armies  of  the  Union  are  not 
slave  hunters,  [Cheers,]  and  the  slave  of  a  rebel  master  who  has  per- 
formed one  act  in  the  service  of  the  Government,  and  in  putting  down 
this  rebellion,  is  from  that  moment  a  free  man,  and  the  strong  arm 
of  the  nation  shall  crush  the  traitor  who  seeks  again  to  enslave  him. 
[Cheers.] 

We  are  told  now  that  another  element  is  to  enter  into  this  war. 
Rumors  are  rife  of  foreign  intervention.  [Cries  of  "  Let  them  come."]  So 
say  I.  It  is  by  no  grace  or  favor  of  European  monarchies,  and  of 
England  especially,  that  this  nation  lives.  We  expect  England  to  strike 
us  just  when  and  where  we  are  weakest.  She  would  not  be  true  to 
herself  or  her  history  if  she  did  not.  I  do  not  undervalue  the  importance 
of  foreign  intervention.  I  do  not  know  but  some  such  event  is  needed  to 
rouse  the  North,  and  make  her  put  forth  her  strength.  Let  England  and 
France  now  attack  us,  and  the  North  would  be  electrified.  That  English 
or  French  regiment  is  not  raised,  nor  ever  will  be,  that  can  reach  a  point 
twenty  miles  inland  in  any  Northern  State.  There  is  not  a  stone  by  the 
roadside  that  would  not  blush  for  itself,  if  it  had  not  behind  it  a  true 
man  and  a  trusty  rifle  in  such  an  event.  [Loud  cheering.] 

Mr  Chittenden  complimented  our  generals,  but  insisted  that  there  was 
a  defect  somewhere  in  the  management  of  this  war.  We  were  thirty 
millions  of  people  against  four,  and  yet  upon  every  important  battle- 
field the  forces  of  the  rebels  had  outnumbered  ours — in  the  last  battles 
before  Richmond,  two  to  one.  The  North  must  go  into  the  field  with 
the  same  energy  and  numbers  as  the  South.  General  Pope  had  announced 
the  true  theory  of  war.  Adopt  the  policy  his  orders  inaugurate.  We 
have  had  too  much  of  that  style  of  war  which  is  always  looking  for 
lines  of  defence  and  ways  of  retreat.  Let  us  look  only  at  what  line  of 
defence  the  rebels  have,  that  we  may  march  upon  it.  Let  us  observe 
their  line  of  retreat  for  there  lies  our  way.  Subsist  our  armies  on  the 
enemy.  Pay  our  troops  from  the  gold  of  the  enemy.  Have  done  with 
permanent  stores,  with  supply  trains  and  baggage  transportation.  The 
views  of  such  men  as  Pope  must  now  control  our  armies  ;  then  will  the 
war  be  carried  on  in  earnest,  and  then  will  it  be  successful. 

He  concluded  amid  applause. 


75 

SPEECH  OF  WILLIAM  ALLEN  BUTLEE. 

Mr.  WILLIAM  ALLEN  BUTLER  was  next  introduced  by  the  Chair- 
man. 

FELLOW-CITIZENS, — This  is  a  meeting  for  business.  We  are  not  here, 
on  a  gala  day,  to  hear  ourselves  talk,  hut  to  act  in  a  great  crisis. 
[Cheers.]  We  have  heard,  from  the  speaker  who  preceded  me,  what 
we  have  heard  before,  once  and  again,  that  the  capital  is  in  danger. 
The  appeal  now  made  to  us  by  the  Government  is  not  a  new  one.  We 
have  responded  to  it  before.  If  I  am  asked  how  we  have  responded,  I 
point  to  the  gallant  Seventh,  I  point  to  the  seventy-two  regiments  which 
have  been  organized  and  equipped  in  the  Empire  City  since  the  out- 
break of  the  rebellion.  [Cheers.]  I  point  to  Wall-street  and  its  banks. 
I  point  to  every  citizen  of  every  class  and  country,  from  the  private  in 
the  Sixty-ninth  [loud  cheers]  to  the  men  of  largest  wealth  and  influence, 
and  I  say  that  to  every  summons  of  duty  New- York  has  given  a  prompt 
and  a  noble  response.  More  than  twelve  months  ago,  around  this  very 
Square,  at  the  same  hour  as  on  this  day,  we  met  for  a  like  purpose.  Not 
far  from  the  spot  where  I  am  now  speaking  to  you,  a  man  stood  up  and 
spoke  these  words,  "  This  rebellion  must  be  put  down.  It  may  take 
seventy  thousand  men.  What  then?  We  have  them.  It  may  take 
seven  hundred  thousand  men.  What  then  ?  We  have  them."  These 
were  the  words  of  Colonel  Baker.  [Cheers.] 

He  fell  at  Ball's  Bluff,  the  victim,  if  not  ot  military  treason,  of  military 
incompetency.  He  is  gone — we  are  here.  The  seventy  thousand  men 
are  gone.  Six  hundred  thousand  men  have  been  given,  but  the  rebellion 
is  not  put  down.  The  question  for  us  to-day  is,  not  whose  fault  is  it. 
The  simple  question  is,  shall  it  be  put  down  ?  [Cries  of  "  Yes !"]  We 
are  not  here  to  criticise  or  to  blame,  but  to  ask  ourselves  what  is  our  in- 
dividual duty.  What  is  your  duty — what  is  mine  ?  What  will  you  do  ? 
[Cries  of  "  All  we  can."]  What  will  I  do  ?  I  reply,  every  man  of  us, 
who  can  go  in  person,  should  go  at  once.  If  a  man  cannot  go  himself 
let  him  get  his  neighbor  to  go.  If  he  can  neither  go  himself  nor  send 
his  neighbor,  let  him  give  what  he  can  in  aiding  others  to  go.  Let  every 
man  give ;  the  rich  from  their  abundance,  the  poor  from  their  toil.  This 
is  our  part.  We  may  have  our  views  and  our  preferences,  but  this  is  not 
the  time  for  them.  This  rebellion  will  never  be  subdued  unless  we  re- 
spond as  we  ought  to,  to  this  new  call  to  duty.  Will  you  do  it  ?  ["  Yes !"] 

As  for  the  Government,  the  policy  it  needs  is  summed  up  in  the  single 

W0rd fight.  ["  That's  it."]  I  would  say  this  to  Abraham  Lincoln,  and 

to  every  general  and  every  man  in  the  field.  Fight  with  every  weapon 
and  use  every  means  of  success.  As  our  armies  advance,  every  man,  who 
is  a  friend,  should  be  welcomed,  whatever  his  condition  or  color.  [Cheers.] 
If  he  can  dig,  give  him  a  pick.  If  he  can  fight,  give  him  a  musket. 
Take  aid  wherever  we  can  get  it.  I  read  yesterday  that  James  Buchanan 
had  given  $100  as  a  contribution  to  the  sick  and  wounded  Pennsylvania 
volunteers !  Even  hie  money  I  would  take.  [Laughter  and  cheers.]  It 
may  help  to  smooth  the  pillow  or  stanch  the  wound  of  some  brave  fellow 
who  has  fallen  in  the  effort  to  redress  the  wrongs  his  treachery  inflicted. 
Let  the  Government  pursue  this  plain  policy,  and  let  every  man  sustain 
it  by  all  the  means  in  his  power,  and  with  God's  blessing  on  our  arms  we 
are  as  certain  to  succeed  as  to-day's  sun  is  sure  to  set.  [Loud  applause.] 


THE  YOUNG  MEN'S  MEETING. 


STAND    No.    5. 


This  stand  was  under  the  auspices  of  Committees  of  the  Mer- 
cantile Library  Association,  and  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation. 

These  bodies  not  being  represented  in  the  Convention  of  Com- 
mittees, but  at  a  late  hour  expressing  a  desire  to  participate  in 
the  great  loyal  demonstration,  were  invited  to  do  so.  The  pro- 
ceedings on  this  stand  were  conducted  by  the  young  men  without 
interference  from  the  General  Committee  of  Management. 

BENJ.  R  MANIERRE  called  the  meeting  to  order  and  introduced, 
as  presiding  officer,  Major-General  JOHN  C.  FREMONT,  who  came 
forward  amid  great  applause,  and  called  upon  the  Rev.  JOSEPH 
T.  DURYEA  to  commence  the  exercises  with  prayer. 

THE   PRAYER. 

O  God  our  Heavenly  Father,  the  God  of  our  fathers,  and  our  God.  We  look 
up  to  Thee  at  the  beginning  of  this  meeting  for  Thy  presence.  We  acknowledge 
Thee  to  be  the  Lord.  We  acknowledge  Thee  to  be  the  God  of  the  whole  earth. 
Our  nation  is  dependent  upon  Thee,  and  from  Thee  we  receive  our  national 
existence.  Secure  us  in  these  our  times  of  peril,  and  unite  all  the  hearts  of  this 
great  people  with  the  sentiments  of  purpose,  and  of  ardor,  and  zeal.  Concentrate 
all  the  powers  and  resources  of  this  country  to  our  salvation  from  the  enemy 
which  threatens  our  national  existence.  0  God,  fill  the  hearts  of  the  young  with 
the  power  of  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  and  let  not  one  of  us  withhold  our  gifts 
and  our  powers,  and  influence,  or  our  children,  from  this  cause,  which  may  give 
to  us  Liberty,  and  benefit  the  race  of  mankind.  We  pray  that  Thou  wilt  bless 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  all  who  have  authority  under  him,  giving 
them  wisdom,  giving  them  courage,  singleness  of  purpose,  and  innocence  of  heart. 
May  the  foreign  nations  of  the  earth  understand,  that  our  single  aim  is  to  re- 
move the  enemy  before  us,  and  reunite  all  parts  of  the  land  under  the  control  of 
one  Government.  We  pray  that  thou  wilt  bless  the  army  on  the  field,  the 
officers  who  are  now  present,  and  those  who  in  our  hospitals,  are  on  the  bed  of 
sickness.  Give  courage  to  them,  and  accept  us  all  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake, 
Amen! 


77 


Mr.  FRANK  W.  BALLARD  read  the  list  of  Vice-Presidents,  as 
follows : — 

Vice-presidents. 


Hon.  BENJ  F.  MANIERRE, 
FREDERICK  C.  WAGNER, 
SAMUEL  W.  STEBBINS, 
A.  D.  F.  RANDOLPH, 
FRANK  W.  BALLARD, 
ERASMUS  STERLING, 
A.  J.  H.  DUGANNE, 
GEORGE  T.  HOPE, 
E.  DELAFIELD  SMITH, 
VINCENT  COLYER, 
STEWART  L.  WOODFOBD, 
CEPHAS  BRAINERD, 
CHARLES  OSGOOD, 
JOHN  CRERAR, 
GEORGE  C.  WOOD, 
WM.  H.  WICKHAM. 
JAMES  WHITE, 
CHARLES  F.  ALLEN, 
HARVEY  H.  WOODS, 
WILLIAM  A.  MARTEN, 
Rev.  A.  H.  BURLINGHAM, 
HENRY  J.  ARMSTRONG, 
WILLARD  HARVEY, 
JOHN  K.  MYERS, 
HENRY  B.  HYDE, 
PHILIP  FRANKENHEIMER, 
TREADWELL  KETCHUM, 
RICHARD  S.  STORRS, 
Capt.  CHARLES  C.  NOTT, 
JOHN  M.  LETTS, 
CHARLES  S.  MESSINGER, 
Rev.  JOSEPH  T.  DURYEA, 
THADDEUS  B.  WAKEMAN, 
J.  EVARTS  TRACY, 
AUSTIN  LEAKE, 
MARK  HOYT, 

Mr.  HOWARD  then  read 

S.  HASTINGS  GRANT, 
D.  S.  RIDDLE, 
CHARLES  NORDHOFF, 
JAMES  L.  HASTIE, 
WM.  W.  HAGUE, 
Lieut.  B.  T.  MARTEN, 
A.  K.  MACMILLAN, 
R.  M.  STREBEIGH, 
RICHARD  VALLANT, 

ROBT.  McBuRNEY, 

FREDERICK  W.  DOWNER, 
W.  S.  MATHEWS, 
DAVID  DRAKE, 
VERANUS  MORSE,  M.  D., 
CHARLES  H.  SWORDS, 
DANL.  W.  BERDAN, 
THADDEUS  V.  TABER, 


E.  C.  JOHNSON, 
DEXTER  A.  HAWKINS, 
GEORGE  H.  MATHEWS, 
CHARLES  T.  RODGERS, 
WILLIAM  M.  FRANKLIN, 
Col.  JAMES  FAIRMAN, 
JAMES  W.  NEWTON, 
CALEB  B.  KNEVALS, 
Rev.  CHAUNCEY  MURRAY, 
GEORGE  W.  CLARKE, 
JAMES  C.  HOLDEN, 
STEPHEN  H.  TYNG,  Jr., 
Capt.  CHARLES  A.  MOORE, 
JOSEPH  W.  LESTER, 
HENRY  BEENY, 
Col.  JAMES  McKAYE, 
EDWARD  COLGATE, 
LEONARD  D.  WHITE, 
FREDERICK  OLMSTEAD, 
Rev.  H.  B.  RIDGWAY, 
Col.  JAMES  W.  SAVAGE, 
EPES  E.  ELLERY, 
HENRY  WILSON, 
Rev.  T.  RALSTON  SMITH, 
AUSTIN  ABBOTT, 
Lieut.  THOMAS  L.  THORNELL, 
Capt.  A.  V.  MEEKS, 
D.  WILLIS  JAMES, 
W.  B.  ROBERTS, 
ROBERT  COLBY, 
SAMUEL  S.  CONSTANT, 
CHARLES  A.  STETSON,  Jr., 
ALEX.  PROUDFOOT, 

D.  H.  GlLDERSLEEVE, 

WILLIAM  HAGUE, 
the  following  list  of  Secretaries 

Secretaries. 

CHARLES  NETTLETON, 
EDWARD  P.  MORRIS, 
JAMES  WARD  SMYTHE, 

E.  P.  TIBBALS, 
JAMES  S.  STEARNS, 
EDWARD  A.  MANN, 
CHARLES  E.  WILBUR, 
J.  HOWARD, 

JNO.  HENRY  HALL, 
OETER  M.  MYERS, 
0.  V.  COFFIN, 
WILLIAM  D.  JONES, 
MANTON  MARBLE, 
HIRAM  CALKINS, 
FRANCIS  A.  HALL. 
T.  G.  SHEARMAN, 
JAMES  McGEE. 


78 

GEN.  FREMONT'S  SPEECH. 
Gen.  FREMONT  then  rose,  amid  deafening  applause.    He  said : — 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  this  great  assemblage  has  been  called  to  con- 
sider the  situation  of  the  country,  with  the  object  of  adopting  such  measures  as 
will  enable  you  to  respond  most  immediately  and  most  effectively  to  the  Presi- 
dent's call  for  troops.  But  at  the  same  time  it  is  expected  that  this  occasion 
will  be  used  for  such  an  expression  of  your  feelings  and  opinions  as  will  satisfy 
the  country,  that  the  enthusiasm  which  characterized  your  meeting  held  here  last 
year,  as  now,  has  become  a  settled  resolve,  and  that  it  is  not  in  the  ideas  or  pos- 
sibilities of  the  day  that  you  should  consent  to  a  dismemberment  of  your  national 
territory.  [Loud  cheers,  and  cries  of  "  Never."]  The  people  have  realized  that 
a  decisive  struggle,  which  would  tax  their  utmost  energies,  is  now  to  come,  and 
that  upon  the  issue  of  this  struggle  depends  the  life  of  the  nation.  [Immense  ap- 
plause.] The  South  has  resolved  itself  into  a  great  army,  to  the  support  of 
which  all  its  industrial  energies  and  resources  are  directed.  You,  too,  will  find 
it  necessary  to  call  into  immediate  activity  your  immense  resources  to  meet  the 
emergency.  [Cheers.]  For  a  brief  time  now  war  must  be  the  business  of  the 
nation.  [Cheers.]  You  must  show  your  soldiers  that  they  have  not  only  your 
admiration  and  gratitude  for  the  services  they  have  rendered  to  you,  but  that 
they  can  rely  upon  your  cordial  and  prompt  support,  and  that  they,  too,  have 
their  great  reserves  in  the  masses  of  the  people.  [Cheers.]  By  this  expression 
the  Executive  will  feel  assured  of  an  intelligent,  harmonious  and  effective  co- 
operation, and  foreign  Governments  will  recognize  that  we  intend  to  maintain 
our  historic  place  in  the  family  of  nations,  at  the  head  of  the  great  democratic 
idea,  [cheers,]  and  that  for  the  sake  of  liberty  we  are  resolved  to  maintain  this 
Union.  [Loud  cheers.]  The  men  chosen  to  address  you  to-day,  are  among 
those  in  whom  you  are  accustomed  to  place  confidence,  and  whose  opinions  on 
these  subjects  more  or  less  reflect  your  own.  [Immense  applause.]  I  will  now 
introduce  to  you  other  speakers. 

Dr.  RUFUS  W.  CLARK  was  then  introduced. 

SPEECH  OF  REV.  RUFUS  W.  CLARK,  D.  D. 

MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS, — I  shall  take  my  text  on  this  occasion 
from  one  of  the  books  of  Daniel — not  Daniel  the  prophet,  but  Daniel  Webster. 
[Laughter.]  For  he  has  somewhere  said  or  written  this  noble  sentiment,  '•  Liberty 
and  Union,  one  and  inseparable,  now  and  forever."  [Cheers.]  The  Union  is 
represented  by  the  vast  concourse  gathered  around  me,  embracing  men  of  all 
political  parties  and  creeds.  Liberty  is  represented  in  the  person  of  General 
Fremont,  who  presides  on  this  occasion.  [Tremendous  cheers  ]  And  the  pledge 
that  they  shall  be  one  and  inseparable  floats  over  our  heads  in  the  star-spangled 
banner. 

I  remember  that  very  early  in  the  struggle,  somewhere  down  South,  they  had 
a  funeral,  and  they  took  the  old  flag,  and  with  mock  solemnity,  buried  it ;  and 
they  supposed  that  was  the  last  of  the  American  flag.  But,  gentlemen,  I  believe  in 
the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  [applause]  ;  and  I  believe  that  the  sacred  emblem 
of  our  national  rights  and  honor,  even  from  that  soil,  cursed  with  rebellion  to-day, 
will  rise  again,  and  proudly  float  over  that  and  every  other  defiant  State,  and 
represent  in  the  future — as  it  has  in  the  past — a  united,  prosperous  and  happy 
people. 

The  incident  reminds  me  of  an  ignorant  politician,  who  was  sent  by  his  neigh- 
bors to  an  adjoining  county  to  ascertain  what  a  tax  was  for,  that  had  been  levied. 
He  was  told  that  it  was  to  promote  the  navy  and  prevent  an  insurrection.  On 
returning  home  he  was  asked  if  he  had  ascertained  what  the  tax  was  for.  "  Oh, 
yes,"  said  he,  "  it  is  to  promote  knavery  and  prevent  the  resurrection"  [Great 


laughter.]  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  the  taxes  at  the  South  will  promote  knavery, 
but  they  will  not  prevent  the  resurrection  of  that  flag  around  which  we  rally  to- 
day, and  to  the  maintenance  of  which  we  renewedly  consecrate  our  lives,  our 
fortunes,  and  our  sacred  honor.  [Cheers.] 

But,  fellow-citizens,  the  hour  is  solemn.  We  meet  at  a  momentous  crisis  in 
our  national  history.  The  republic  is  in  danger.  This  colossal  and  iniquitous 
rebellion  must  be  met ;  it  must  be  grappled  with  and  crushed  now.  I  am  not 
here  to  appeal  to  your  passions.  I  do  not  stand  before  this  mighty  gathering  of 
American  citizens  simply  to  make  a  speech.  I  am  here  to  kindle  anew  the  fire 
of  your  patriotism  ;  to  awaken,  if  possible,  an  increased  energy  and  devotion  to 
the  cause  so  dear  to  our  hearts  ;  the  cause  that  embraces  the  interests  of  civili- 
zation, human  liberty,  and  the  progress  of  society  in  the  arts,  education,  and  re- 
ligion. 1  am  here  to  urge  you  to  rally  to  the  call  of  our  noble  President,  and  to 
joiu  the  hoFts  already  in  the  field,  who  are  doing  their  utmost  to  roll  back  the 
tide  of  rebellion,  and  preserve  the  precious  institutions  bequeathed  to  us  by  our 
fathers.  [Applause.] 

In  this  struggle,  we  aim,  first,  at  the  security  of  our  national  existence.  We 
desire  to  live  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  God  helping  us,  we  will  main- 
tain the  Republic  against  all  the  opposition,  domestic  or  foreign,  that  may  be 
brought  to  bear  against  us.  [Immense  applause.]  Not  a  few  persons  in  Europe, 
especially  in  England,  have  blamed  us  for  this.  We  have  been  censured  for  de- 
siring to  exist,  and  for  not  quietly  acquiescing  in  the  dismemberment  of  our  nation. 
The  people  of  England  have  declared  that  our  republican  institutions  were  a 
failure.  [A  voice  in  the  crowd,  "  They  lie."]  Yes,  those  who  say  it  do  lie  ;  and 
they  will  have  to  lie  quietly  until  we  can  attend  to  their  sneers  and  threats.  I 
had  supposed,  until  recently,  that  England  was  distinguished  for  her  civilization, 
her  intense  humanity,  and  devotion  to  the  doctrine  of  human  rights.  I  had  sup- 
posed that  her  statesmen  and  leaders  of  public  opinion  were  in  favor  of  cultivat- 
ing peaceful  relations  with  the  other  powers  of  the  earth  ;  and,  surely,  we  have 
done  nothing  to  provoke  her  enmity.  Rather,  we  have  done  all  in  our  power  to 
maintain  a  cordial  and  generous  friendship.  We  have  bestowed  upon  her  authors 
and  eminent  men,  who  have  visited  our  shores,  every  mark  of  attention.  Some 
years  ago,  when  her  Irish  citizens  were  starving,  we  ladened  our  ships  of  war 
with  provisions  for  their  relief,  and  gladly  gave  of  our  abundance  to  the  needy. 
When  a  lost  British  ship,  in  the  Arctic  regions,  was  found  by  an  American  cap- 
tain, she  was  brought  to  one  of  our  ports,  carefully  and  thoroughly  refitted, 
and  returned  to  the  Queen  as  an  expression  of  our  good-will  and  respect  for  her 
administration.  And  how  recently  these  streets  were  thronged  by  our  enthusi- 
astic citizens,  to  do  honor  to  the  young  Prince  of  Wales,  the  representative  of 
the  British  throne.  No  demonstration  could  have  been  more  marked  or  sincere  ; 
none  could  have  sprung  from  purer  feelings,  a  loftier  sentiment  than  that  which 
greeted  the  son  of  the  Queen.  And  now,  in  the  hour  of  our  embarrassment  and 
peril,  what  return  do  we  receive  from  that  people  ?  Where  are  their  sympathies, 
as  expressed  through  thair  public  press  ?  Should  the  child  of  royalty  again  visit 
us  and  pass  through  our  streets,  I  apprehend  that  we  should  allow  him  to  go  on 
his  way  in  silence,  and  no  more  waste  our  attentions  upon  a  government  incapa- 
ble of  appreciating  an  act  of  pure  and  generous  national  friendship.  And  we 
shall  ask  neither  of  England  or  of  any  other  nation  on  the  globe,  the  privilege  of 
existing  ;  and  when  the  pernicious  traitors  at  home  are  annihilated,  I  believe  that 
we  shall  have  leisure  and  ability  to  see  that  we  are  not  interfered  with  by  the 
nations  of  Europe.  [Immense  cheers.] 

Fellow-citizens,  we  are  here  also  to  maintain  our  Government.  What  is  Gov- 
ernment ?  It  is  the  sentiments  of  the  whole  community  embodied  in  laws,  which 
certain  officers  are  selected  to  execute.  The  Government  is  created  to  protect 
property,  regulate  the  intercourse  and  relations  of  citizens,  and  defend  human 
life.  Without  a  Government,  there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  property— that  is, 
the  right  of  possession.  In  a  savage  state,  no  man  can  hold  land,  houses  or  mer- 
chandise, for  there  is  no  centralized  authority  to  enforce  his  claims;  or  protect 


so 

his  rights.  And  the  man  who  rebels  against  a  just,  good  Government,  does  all 
in  his  power  to  weaken  your  hold  upon  your  property,  and  reduce  society  to  a  con- 
dition of  barbarism.  He  dethrones  order  and  law,  and  inaugurates  insecurity 
and  anarchy. 

Government  also  exists  to  protect  human  liberty  and  life.  The  man,  there- 
fore, who  strikes  a  blow  at  the  Government,  labors  to  destroy  that  protection. 
He  is  the  foe  of  society.  Rebellion  is  national  suicide,  and  no  punishment  can 
be  too  great  for  those  who  have  plotted  the  destruction  of  such  a  Government  as 
ours,  and  who  seek  the  destruction  of  a  Republic  that  has  given  happiness  and 
prosperity  to  so  many  millions  of  freemen.  [Cheers.] 

Gentlemen,  we  are  here  also  to  preserve  and  perpetuate  the  American  Union. 
Now  this  Union  was  not  created  by  a  compact  of  the  States.  The  idea  of  State 
sovereignty  is  a  delusion.  Before  we  achieved  our  independence,  which  was  the 
beginning  of  our  national  life,  the  colonies  derived  all  their  powers  from  the 
British  crown.  They  were  under  that  crown  until  the  moment  that  they  passed 
under  the  authority  of  the  Federal  Government.  They  did  not  cede  their  au- 
thority to  the  Federal  Government,  for  they  had  none  to  cede.  Independence 
was  declared  and  achieved  by  the  people  of  the  whole  country,  and  not  by  indi- 
vidual States.  The  United  States  Constitution  was  framed  and  adopted  by  the 
people,  and  the  right  of  secession  is  nowhere  recognized.  It  is  neither  tolerated 
in  the  instrument  itself,  nor  in  the  terms  upon  which  the  Constitution  was 
adopted  and  ratified  by  the  people  of  the  several  States.  The  authorities  on 
this  point  are  clear  and  incontrovertible.  We  are  struggling  also  to  maintain 
the  principle  of  human  liberty. 

Do  you  ask  where  do  we  get  that  principle  ?  I  reply,  not  from  the  Declara- 
tion of  American  Independence,  but  from  the  human  soul,  where  the  Almighty 
planted  it.  That  declaration  simply  expressed  what  has  ever  existed  in  the  breast 
of  man  ;  and  if  you  will  consult  the  writings  of  Hamilton.  Jefferson,  Jay,  Wash- 
ington, and  other  of  the  early  American  heroes,  you  will  find  that  the  great 
struggle  then  was,  not  simply  for  the  freedom  of  this  nation,  but  for  the  great  doc- 
trine of  human  rights.  They  fought  for  the  liberty  of  man,  endowed  by  his 
Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights.  We  also  fight  to-day  for  liberty,  and  in 
proportion  as  we  smite  the  cause  of  the  Rebellion,  as  well  as  the  Rebellion  itself, 
the  Almighty  will  help  us,  and  crown  our  arms  with  victory.  [Great  applause.] 

And  I  deem  it  very  appropriate,  that  the  noble  General  who  is  with  us  to-day, 
who  first  placed  the  American  flag  upon  the  summit  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  who  gave  freedom  to  California,  should  be  the  first  to  sound  the  bugle  notes 
of  emancipation  at  the  head  of  the  army.  [Immense  cheering.]  And  although 
the  Government  did  not  at  that  time  sustain  him,  still  those  bugle  notes  have, 
ever  since,  been  rolling  over  the  plains,  and  reverberating  through  the  hills  and 
valleys,  all  over  the  country.  And  when  those  notes  are  gathered  up  and  set  to 
music,  and  our  armies  march  to  that  music,  then  will  they  move  on  to  honor  and 
to  victory.  Let  us  then,  one  and  all,  respond  to  the  call  of  our  President,  and  let 
us  inscribe  in  letters  of  gold  upon  our  banners,  the  sentiment  with  which  I  began, 
"  Liberty  and  Union,  one  and  inseparable,  now  and  forever."  [Prolonged  cheers.] 


SPEECH  OF  HON.  E.  DELAFIELD  SMITH. 

General  FREMONT,  the  chairman,  then  introduced  the  Hon.  E. 
DELAFIELD  SMITH,  the  United  States  District  Attorney,  who  was 
received  with  great  enthusiasm,  and  spoke  as  follows  : — 

MEN  OF  NEW- YORK, — This  is,  in  truth,  a  colo?sal  demonstration.  The  eye 
can  hardly  reach  the  boundaries  of  these  compact  thousands.  It  would  be  in 
vain  for  the  voice  to  attempt  it.  The  people  have  come  in  their  might.  They 


81 

have  come  in  their  majesty.  Th*»y  have  "  come  as  the  winds  come  when  forests 
are  rended.''  They  have  **  come  as  the  wares  come  when  naries  are  strandvd." 
We  are  here  to-day,  not  to  speak  and  acclaim,  but  to  act  and  incite  to  action. 
[Appliose.]  We  know  that  this  monster  rebellion  cannot  be  spoken  down ;  it 
most  be  fought  down !  [Cheers.] 

We  are  assembled  to  animate  each  other  to  renewed  efforts  and  nobler  sacri- 
fices in  behalf  of  our  imperiled  country.  There  is  hardly  one  of  us  who  has  not, 
at  this  hour,  some  endeared  relative  on  the  bloody  fie:ds  of  Virginia.  The  voices 
of  our  armed  and  suffering  brethren  literally  cry  to  us  from  the  ground.  To-day 
we  hear  them.  To-day  let  us  h  ed  them.  [Applause.]  The  call  for  fresh  troops 
comes  to  us  from  a  loved  and  trusted  President— from  faithful  and  heroic  Generals. 
[Loud  cheers.]  This  day  determines  that  it  shall  be  answered.  [Renewed 
cheers.]  Let  each  act  as  though  specially  commissioned  to  obtain  recruits  for  a 
sacred  service.  [Applause.] 

Fremont-  is  here.  You  have  heard  his  voice.  He  has  told  us  to  uphold  our 
Government  and  sustain  our  Generals  in  the  field.  Whatever  officer  uiay  go  to 
battle  with  the  President's  commission,  will  be  made  strong  by  a  loyal  people's 
prayers  and  confidence.  [Loud  cheering.] 

The  army  and  navy,  the  President,  the  Cabinet  and  the  Congress,  have  done  all 
that  can  now  be  effected  by  them.  The  issue  tod.iy  is  with  the  people.  Do  you 
ask  activity  on  the  part  of  the  President  ?  Recall  his  personal  labor  and  super- 
vision in  the  council  and  the  field.  Do  you  seek  a  poiicy  ?  Look  to  his  solemn 
conference  with  the  loyalists  of  the  border  State?.  [Cheers.]  Do  you  demand 
legislation?  Witness  the  matured  laws  that  Congress  has  spread  upon  the 
statute-book.  A  jurist  from  the  bench  of  our  highest  tribunal  once  declared 
a  maxim  which  shocked  the  country  aud  the  world.  It  is  ours,  with  our 
representatives,  to  respond  :  A  RKBKL  '•  HAS  xo  RIGHTS  WHICH  A  WHITE  MAX  is 
BOCXD  TO  RESPECT  !"  [Loud  and  long  continued  cheering,  with  waving  of  hats 
and  handkerchiefs.] 

A  traitor  cannot  own  a  loyalist  of  any  race.  Xor  can  "  service  be  due  "  to 
national  conspirators,  except  at  the  call  of  public  justice.  [Laughter  and 
applause] 

The  limits  of  civilized  warfare  must  and  will  be  observed ;  but  those  limits  are 
broad  as  the  boundaries  of  the  ocean,  and  they  lie  far  beyond  the  lives  and  the 
treasure  of  traitors  in  arms.  [Cheers.]  In  this  mortal  combat  between  the  ene- 
mies and  the  friends  of  republican  liberty,  wherein  treason  scruples  at  nothing, 
patriots  must  neglect  no  means  that  God  and  nature  have  placed  in  their  hand?. 
[Loud  cheers.]  These  institutions  were  reared  on  the  ruins  of  British  pride. 
Their  foundations  must  be  reconstructed  on  the  crumbled  pretensions  of  southern 
oligarchs.  [Renewed  cheers.]  We  mast,  and  we  will,  repel  force  by  force.  Tney 
who  press  an  iron  heel  upon  the  heart  of  our  noble  nation,  must  perish  by  the 
sword  of  her  avensjin?  sons.  God  grant  the  time  may  be  near  when  every  rebel 
leader  may  say  his  prayers,  and  bite  the  dust,  or  hang  as  high  as  Hainan.  If  we 
are  wise,  and  true,  and  brave,  the  American  Union,  like  the  snn  in  the  heavens. 
shall  be  clouded  but  for  a  nieht.  Still  shall  it  move  onward,  and  every  obstacle 
in  its  pathway  be  withered  and  crushed.  [Renewed  and  continued  cheering.] 

Victory,  indeed,  cannot  be  won  except  by  arms.  Our  institutions  were  the 
gift  of  the  wounded  and  dead  of  the  armies  of  Washington.  Shakspeare  said, 
and  we  re-utter  in  a  higher  sense, 

"  Things  bought  with  blood  must  be  by  blood  maintained." 

Look  to  our  armies  and  rally  the  people  to  swell  their  wasted  ranks.  Go.  you 
who  can.  And  spare  neither  men  nor  money  to  enable  others  to  march  to  battle. 
[Cheers  1 

Let  loyal  men  permit  no  question  to  distract  or  divide  them.  Care  not  what 
a  mans  theories  may  be,  so  that  his  heart  feels  and  his  hand  works  for  the  I  men. 
Kverv  citizen.  North  or  South,  who  prays  for  the  success  of  our  arms,  and  who 
labors  for  the  vindication  of  our  Constitution,  whatever  may  b 

11 


82 

opinions,  is  a  patriot.  [Cheers.]  They  who  condemn  any  class  of  our  fellow- 
citizens  because  of  differences  on  collateral  issues — those  who  declare  that  a 
loyal  abolitionist  is  on  a  level  with  an  armed  secessionist — are  wrong  in  head,  or 
at  heart  unsound.  [Applause.] 

Let  assertions  like  this  be  at  an  end.  Let  all  loyal  men  and  all  loyal  journals 
abandon  arguments  which  bear  the  dull  and  counterfeit  ring  of  traitor  philosophy. 
[Loud  applause.] 

For  the  rest — for  those  who  not  alone  seem,  but  are,  disloyal — let  the  people  arise 
in  their  might,  and  silence  them  all,  whether  they  speak  in  the  street  to  the  few,  or 
seek,  through  the  public  press,  to  poison  the  many.  Law,  in  many  things,  cannot 
go  so  far,  nor  accomplish  so  much,  as  determined  public  opinion.  [Cheers.] 
While  men  like  Andy  Johnson,  of  Tennessee,  with  herculean  strength,  strike,  in 
their  districts,  at  the  hydra  of  rebellion,  shall  not  we,  in  New-York,  war  upon 
the  spirit  of  secession  in  every  form  ?  [Applause,  and  cries  of  "  We  will."] 
The  old  flag  must  be  the  paramount  object  of  all.  It  will  be  loved  by  the  faith- 
ful. By  the  fa'se,  it  must  be  feared.  [Vociferous  cheering.] 

They  talk  of  a  distinction  between  fidelity  to  the  Government  and  devotion  to 
the  Administration.  In  the  day  of  national  danger  or  disaster,  the  two  senti- 
ments are  inseparable.  Distrust  him  who  professes  the  one  only  to  disclaim  the 
other.  [Applause.]  When  the  tempest  howls,  no  prayer  breathed  for  the  ship 
forgets  the  pilot  at  ner  helm.  [Applause  and  cheers.] 

Loyalty  knows  no  conditions.  Stand  by  the  Government !  Scrutinize  its 
action  ;  but  do  it  like  earnest  patriots — not  like  covert  traitors.  Stand  by  the 
Administration  !  In  times  like  these,  party  spirit  should  be  lulled.  That  spirit 
was  hushed  in  the  era  of  the  Revolution — in  the  days  of  Madison  and  Monroe — 
and  when  the  hero  of  New  Orleans  crushed  the  rising  form  of  nullification. 
Our  fathers  stood  by  Jackson  as  their  sires  sustained  Washington.  It  is  our 
privilege  to  uphold  the  arm  of  a  President,  great  and  pure,  who  will  share  their 
glory  on  the  page  of  history.  ]Loud  cheering.] 

1  must  trespass  no  longer.  [Cries  of  "  Go  on,  go  on."]  No,  fellow-citizens  ; 
I  will  bid  you  farewell.  Our  illustrious  Secretary  of  State  has  this  day  given  to 
the  army  the  only  son  not  already  in  the  public  service.  Let  us  emulate  his 
spirit  of  sacrifice,  and  think  nothing  too  dear  to  offer  on  the  altar  of  our  country. 

Mr.  SMITH  spoke  with  a  clear,  loud  voice,  and  retired  in  the 
midst  of  most  enthusiastic  cheering. 

SPEECH  OF  JOSEPH  HOXIE,  ESQ. 

Mr.  JOSEPH  HOXIE  was  next  introduced,  was  warmly  received, 
and  spoke  as  follows : 

They  say  this  is  the  young  men's  stand,  intended  more  especially  for  the  young 
men,  and  should  any  one  say,  "  Why,  Hoxie  has  the  impudence  to  claim  the 
honor  of  belonging  to  that  patriotic  part  of  our  fellow-citizens,  the  young  men," 
I  should  simply  say,  "  Why,  my  friends,  I  have  belonged  to  the  Young  Men's 
Committee  for  more  than  forty  years."  [Laughter  and  applause.]  And  now, 
before  addressing  you,  very  briefly,  I  propose  that  we  all  unite  in  singing  the 
"  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  and  I  want  about  five  acres  of  this  audience  to  join 
in  the  chorus.  [Great  cheering.] 

The  "  Star-Spangled  Banner  "  was  then  sung  by  a  glee  club  on 
the  platform,  thousands  upon  thousands  of  voices  in  the  immense 
crowd  joining  in  the  chorus  with  a  most  thrilling  effect. 


83 

Mr.  HOXIE  then  resumed,  as  follows : — 

The  reverend  gentlemen  who  preceded  me  took  for  his  text  those  undying 
words  of  the  lamented  Webster,  written,  I  am  sure,  in  letters  that  are  never  to 
be  erased  from  the  heart  of  every  true  American.  In  the  very  brief  remarks  I  • 
have  to  make  to  you  my  text  shall  be  my  country.  I  did  not  expect,  my  fellow- 
citizens,  ever  to  be  called  upon  to  address  an  assemblage  such  as  this  and  upon 
such  an  occasion  as  this.  Who  of  us  ever  imagined,  when  last  we  met  at,  this 
place,  that  at  this  time  we  should  be  called  on,  as  we  are,  by  that  noble  patriot  at 
the  head  of  the  Government  for  300,000  freemen  more  to  crush  out  this  accursed 
rebellion ;  but  so  it  is,  and  we  have  met  here  to-day  to  respond  with  all  our 
hearts  to  that  patriotic  call  of  our  Chief  Magistrate.  [Applause.]  And  all  we 
have  upon  earth  are  ready  to  be  sacrificed  upon  the  altar  of -our  country. 
[Cries  of"  Good,"  "  good."]  This  Union  must  be  preserved,  and  it  shall  be  pre- 
served. [Great  cheering.]  And  it  is  not  worth  while  for  us  now,  my  fellow- 
citizens,  to  undertake  to  criticise  the  conduct  of  those  who  may  have  command- 
ed our  armies  in  the  field,  and  of  those  who  have  directed  the  legislation  in  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  or  of  the  chosen  councillors  of  the  President  of 
the  United  States — the  heads  of  the  various  departments.  It  is  in  vain  for  us 
to  say  that  this  man  has  done  wrong  ;  that  this  man  should  be  removed  or  that 
man  appointed.  No,  my  fellow-citizens,  we  come  here  not  to  ask  any  such  con- 
temptible question  as  this.  We  have  come  here  to  ask  this  question  :  What  can 
we  do,  what  shall  we  do,  in  this  exigency  of  the  country,  to  preserve  the  integri- 
ty of  the  Union  and  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  ?  [Great  applause.] 
That  is  the  question  we  are  called  upon  to  answer.  If  some  of  our  generals 
have  made  a  mistake,  what  of  it  ?  Let  him,  and  let  him  only,  throw  stones  at 
them  who  never  made  a  mistake  himself.  [Cries  of  "  Good,"  "  good."]  No, 
gentlemen,  we  all  confide  in  the  patriotism,  the  integrity,  the  honesty  of  that 
glorious  statesman  at  the  head  of  the  Government — [great  applause] — confide  in 
those  whom  he  has  chosen  to  enable  him  to  carry  on  the  Government.  Don't 
say,  as  I  have  heard  a  gentleman  say  within  the  last  forty-eight  hours,  that  these 
300,000  men  will  never  be  raised  until  Stanton  is  removed.  Voices,  "  They 
will."]  We  do  not  come  here  to  respond  to  any  such  sentiments  as  that.  We 
come  here  to  tender  all  we  have  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  and 
to  those  associated  with  him  in  administering  the  affairs  of  this  Government. 
Never  before  in  my  life — a  somewhat  advanced  one — have  I  felt  the  weight  of 
the  responsibility  that  should  attach  to  every  good  citizen  as  I  feel  it  to-day. 
But  I  am  not  alone  in  this,  as  these  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  before  me 
bear  willing  witness.  The  time  for  talking,  as  was  well  said  by  my  predecessor, 
has  passed  ;  the  time  for  decisive  action  has  arrived.  Now,  what  can  we — what 
shall  we  do — what  ought  we  to  do  to  save  our  bleeding  country  ?  [Voices, 
"Fight."]  Our  glorious  flag  was  stained  with  the  blood  of  my  father,  and  oh 
how  unworthy  I  should  be  of  every  throb  of  blood  that  courses  in  my  veins,  if  I 
were  not  willing  to  sacrifice  everything  I  have  upon  the  earth  sooner  than  to 
see  it  trail  in  the  dust.  [Great  cheering.]  Hear  you  not,  my  friends,  wafted 
upon  every  Southern  breeze,  the  groans  of  the  wounded  and  the  dyin»  from  the 
field  of  battle— of  our  brothers,  our  sons  and  our  friends  ?  Shall  they  cry  to  you  in 
vain  ?  [Loud  cries  of  "  No,  no."]  Hear  you  not  the  wails  of  the  widow  and 
the  orphan,  demanding  of  you  and  me  that  if  we  cannot  restore  to  them  their 
loved  and  their  lost  ones,  that  we  shall  swear  this  day  to  avenge  their  fate.  We 
have  come  here  to  pledge  ourselves  before  God  and  our  country  that  so  long  as 
we  have  an  arm  to  raise  or  a  voice  to  speak  they  shall  both  be  used  in  defence 
of  this  glorious  Union.  [Great  applause.]  What  would  you  think,  fellow-citi- 
zens if  when  a  fire  was  devouring  your  residence,  the  fireman  of  an  engine  com- 
panv,  instead  of  putting  on  the  hose  to  the  engine  and  playing  away  upon  the 
fire  "should  sit  down  and  begin  to  criticise  the  conduct  of  those  who  constructed 
the'buildino-  or  those  who  perhaps  set  it  on  fire,  and  while  they  were  settling  the 
question  of°who  was  to  blame  the  building  should  be  utterly  given  to  the  flames 


84 

aud  destroyed.  What  would  you  think  of  a  fire  company  that  would  do  that  ?  But 
what  would  you  think,  when  the  flames  are  wrapping  in  destruction  the  nation's 
house,  this  temple  of  liberty  raised  by  our  fathers  and  cemented  by  their  blood, 
when  its  pillars  are  tottering  to  their  base,  of  the  mean,  craven  wretches  who 
should  begin  to  quarrel  as  to  who  had  set  it  on  fire?  In  God's  name  let  us  all 
unite  and  put  out  the  flames.  It  is  the  temple  of  our  liberty,  the  nation's  house 
that  is  on  fire,  and  we  call  upon  every  man  to  do  all  he  can,  however  little  that 
may  be,  to  avert  the  danger — and  to  do  it  now — to  stay  this  conflagration,  and 
save  and  transmit  to  your  children,  and  children's  children,  this  glorious  inherit- 
ance which  we  received  from  our  fathers. 

Here  a  large  delegation,  with  banners  flying,  preceded  by  a 
band  of  music,  from  the  ship-carpenter's  department  of  the  United 
States  ISTavy,  made  its  appearance,  bringing  a  fresh  accession  of 
members  to  the  already  dense  throng  in  front  of  the  platform. 
"  God  Speed  the  Eight "  was  then  given  by  the  Glee  Club,  with  a 
heartiness  and  spirit  that  added  greatly  to  the  interest  and  enthu- 
siasm of  the  meeting. 

SPEECH  OF  CHARLES  GOULD,  ESQ. 

Mr.  GOULD  came  forward  and  said  : — 

FELLOW-CITIZENS, — What  is  to  be  the  effect  of  this  stupendous  gathering  of 
freemen  ?  Let  us  have  one  single  practical  result,  which  will  do  us  and  do  our 
common  country  good,  and  we  shall  not  have  met  in  vain.  Let  us  resolve  to 
have  this  war  ended,  and  ended  in  the  right  way ;  and  we  shall  hear,  in  less  than 
three  months,  the  magnificent  shout  of  victory  swelling  from  the  North  to  the 
South,  from  tl  e  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  We  want  volunteers,  and  we  want  to 
send  them  in  such  a  way,  and  under  such  orders,  as  will  terminate  the  war.  [A 
Voice — ''  Why  don't  you  go  yourself?"]  I  have  sent  two  of  my  children,  and  I 
hope  you  will  all  send  yours,  or  go  yourselves. 

It  make>  no  difference  who  fights  for  us,  but  it  makes  a  great  difference  who 
fights  against  us.  If  we  can  get  away  the  supporters,  the  laborers  from  the 
Southern  army,  we  can  conquer  them  at  once.  Take  away  their  laborers  from 
the  fields,  and  the  ditches  and  embankments.  [Great  cheering.]  Let  liberty 
be  by  our  Government  proclaimed  to  the  slaves,  and  every  slave  in  the  South 
will  know  the  fact.  'I  he  masters  will  be  compelled  to  leave  the  armies  of  the 
rebellion  and  hasten  home  to  protect  their  property  and  guard  their  families  ;  and 
our  army,  then  tru'y  the  army  of  freedom,  with  hardly  the  loss  of  a  man,  will 
sweep  from  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  to  the  Gulf,  and  the  victory  for  freedom  be 
won  and  won,  forever. 

Do  you  ask  how  this  is  to  be  done  ?  The  way  is  simple  and  easy.  Enforce 
and  carry  out  the  proclamation  of  my  friend  and  your  friend  here  at  my  side, 
(Major  General  Fremont,)  and  the  work  is  done.  [Great  cheering.] 

SPEECH  OF  COL.  JAS.  FAIRMAX. 
Col.  JAS.  FAIRMAX  was  the  next  speaker.     He  said : — 

FELLOW-CITIZEXS, — I  will  confess  that  it  is  under  no  ordinary  degree  of  em- 
barrassment that  I  meet  you  on  the  present  occasion.  I  have  frequently  mingled 
my  counsel  with  yours  in  the  blessed  peace  of  the  past,  when  you  and  I  exulted 
in  being  citizens  of  the  Empire  City,  of  the  Empire  State ;  contemplating  this 
great  city  as  the  apex  of  a  pyramid  of  civilization  and  power,  whose  broad  firm 
base  was  our  continent  country. 


85 

Who  dreamed  then — and  how  brief  the  interval — that  we  would  be  so  soon 
assembled,  as  at  this  hour,  to  gaze  with  ill-suppressed  alarm  in  each  other's  faces, 
to  gravely  counsel  in  the  desperate  necessity  of  calling  from  the  peaceful  channels 
of  industry,  nearly  a  million  of  men  to  combat,  upon  our  own  soil,  the  enemies  of 
our  laws,  liberty,  civilization  and  national  existence.  Enemies  not  martialed 
under  a  foreign  banner,  familiar  to  history,  suggesting  old  feuds  and  rival  sys- 
tems, with  alien  languages,  institutions  and  origin  ;  but  men,  who  but  yesterday 
joined  with  us  in  the  maintenance  and  defence,  and  glorying  in  the  proud  -sig- 
nificance of  that  flag,  under  which,  as  a  united  people,  we  have  attained  a  pro- 
gress in  wealth  and  power  unprecedented  in  human  history,  and  which  is  now 
torn  from  the  staff  by  Americans,  with  the  red  hand  of  rebellion,  in  the  land  of 
Washington !  Indeed,  it  is  not  discreditable  to  the  sagacity  of  any  man  to 
admit  that  the  present  aspect  of  our  country  amazes  and  appalls  him ;  for  it 
would  seem  that,  equally,  the  motives  which  govern  the  best  and  worst  of  men, 
plead  against  the,  not  only  criminal,  but  wanton  attempt  at  the  destruction  of 
a  government  which  fosters  the  welfare  of  its  humblest  inhabitant,  and  to  whose 
career  the  patriots  of  every  clime  were  wont  to  look  Avith  trembling  hope  as  the 
auroral  light  of  that  day  that  would  usher  in  the  realization  of  man's  highest 
earthly  destiny.  • 

The  defence  of  liberty  and  laws,  even  to  the  shedding  of  a  deluge  of  human 
blood,  if  need  be,  is  the  first  of  rights,  though  the  last  of  expedients.  I  therefore 
feel  no  need  of  apology,  while  claiming  to  be  opposed  to  the  destruction  of 
human  life  in  every  instinct  of  my  nature,  that  I  wear  a  uniform  that  is  signifi- 
cant of  sanguinary  strife,  at  a  time  like  the  present.  For  discussion  and 
diplomacy  are  at  an  end,  and  we  are  left  to  choose  whether  we  will  fight  at 
Richmond  or  at  New- York  and  Philadelphia.  It  has  come  to  this,  either  the 
Mississippi  and  the  James  or  the  Delaware  and  the  North  rivers  must  bear  the 
crimson  tinge  which  tells  to  wailing  hearts  the  tale  of  fraternal  strife. 

I  will  speak  to  you  in  the  spirit  of  the  instruction  given  by  Napoleon  to  his 
marshals,  when  he  said,  "  Send  what  you  please  to  the  bulletins,  but  tell  me  the 
truth."  Therefore,  while  it  may  not  be  a  welcome  announcement,  fidelity  to  my 
country  demands  it  should  be  made,  that  you  have  held  the  enemy,  heretofore,  in 
unmerited  contempt  as  to  their  fighting  powers.  You  forget  that  they  are 
Anglo-Saxons,  like  yourselves,  having  every  natural  element  of  power  that  you 
possess,  and  in  addition,  some  appliances  to  awaken  their  energies,  which,  I 
regret  to  say,  are  neglected  in  our  own  army.  And  I  would  here  allude  to  some 
of  the  elements  which  impart  to  this  contest  its  fearful  animus,  presenting  diffi- 
culties, which,  did  we  not  know  that  this  rebellion  lifts  its  red  hand  in  sacri- 
legious defiance  against  the  great  whitet  hrone  of  the  universe,  would  well-nigh 
lead  us  to  despond.  The  leaders  of  the  South,  with  a  sagacity  we  would  do  well 
to  imitate,  address  the  patriotism  and  passions  of  their  men.  There  is  not  an 
article  published  in  a  northern  paper,  no  matter  how  obscure,  which  is  suscep- 
tible of  being  tortured  into  an  ungenerous  or  barbarous  significance,  but  it  is 
immediately  seized,  promulgated  and  enforced  with  a  fiendish  ingenuity  of  com- 
ment, which  fans  to  a  savage  fury  the  too  susceptible  natures  of  men  reared 
amid 'an  atmosphere  which  fosters  prejudice  and  arrogance,  to  the  destruction  of 
every  feelino- of  nationality.  And  to  more  certainly  effect  their  purpose,  the 
exercise  takes  the  form  of  a  catechism,  where  the  speaker  recites  some  alleged 
violence  to  women  or  children,  or  something  of  the  kind,  by  the  Union  forces, 
such  as  the  hell-born  lie  which  they  fulminated  about  Butler's  proclamation  in 
New  Orleans  ;  and  then  demanding,  "  Fathers  of  the  South,  will  you  bear  this 
without  a  bloody  retribution?"  Of  course  there  is  a  thundering  "Never!" 
And  the  various  relations  of  life  are  thus  appealed  to,  by  exciting  interrogatories 
with  the  peculiar  vehemence  of  southern  elocution,  till  every  element  of  the 
human  heart  ioins  in  the  cry  for  vengeance  in  the  blood  of  the  Union  Army 
The  relio-ion  of  the  south,  also,  is  directed  to  furnish  motives  to  robbery  and 
murder  f  and  where  it  cannot  be  so  directed  it  is  suppressed,  and  the  same  iron 
hand  that  would  shut  the  ear  of  humanity  against  the  wail  of  the  bondman  j 


86 

would  seek  to  stifle  the  breath  of  prayer,  if  it  could  uot  be  impressed  into  asking 
the  benedictions  of  the  God  of  justice  upon  the  most  flagrant  inhumanity  and 
crime  that  stains  the  page  of  human  history.  And  while  this  demoniacal  indus 
try  is  exerted  to  poison  the  mind  by  the  press,  the  same  assiduity  is  seen  in 
efforts  to  prevent  the  communication  of  intelligence  calculated  to  shake  the  con- 
fidence of  the  blinded  rebels  as  to  their  ultimate  success.  Prisoners  brought  into 
our  lines  within  the  last  two  weeks,  deny  that  New  Orleans,  Memphis,  or 
Nashville  are  held  by  Union  troops,  and  tenaciously  assert  that  a  Union  gun- 
boat cannot  pass  the  guns  of  Lovell  on  the  Mississippi !  And  no  matter  how 
well  a  man  may  know  the  facts,  he  dare  not,  as  he  values  his  life,  hint  that  the 
lies  framed  for  the  deception  of  the  masses,  are  other  than  the  truth  they  .claim. 

The  palpable,  physical  elements  of  this  contest,  on  the  part  of  the  enemy,  are 
truly  stupendous.  The  entire  population  of  the  South,  in  a  military  sense,  are 
impressed  into  the  service  ;  every  kind  of  property  in  the  rebel  States  which  can 
be  used  for  any  military  purpose,  is  seized  ;  and  the  sole  hope  of  replevin,  is 
predicated  upon  the  permanence  of  the  Confederate  government.  The  entire 
currency  of  these  States  is  dependent  for  its  redemption  upon  the  success  of 
the  rebellion  ;  while  they  now  hold  ample  territory  with  abundant  natural 
resource^  for  an  empire,  and  awaiting  only  the  ever  precarious  caprices  of 
European  diplomacy  for  foreign  recognition  with  ths  practical  sympathy 
annexed. 

My  past,  I  trust,  preserves  me  from  suspicion  of  disloyalty  while  I  thus  speak 
of  the  power  of  the  rebels  ;  and  I  believe  it  is  best  to  be  frank,  even  if  it  should 
savor  of  compliment,  as  the  first  [thing  toward  a  successful  contest  is  to  squarely 
face  the  enemy.  Then  let  me  add,  what  is  the  fruit  of  ample  opportunities  of 
knowledge,  as  my  conviction,  that  until  the  power  of  this  rebellion  is  crushed 
with  a  gauntlet  hand,  you  cannot  call  the  ground  upon  which  you  now  stand 
either  free  or  independent ;  for,  chimerical  as  it  may  seem  to  you,  still  the  scheme 
is  entertained  with  a  lively  hope  by  the  rebels,  of  invading  the  cities  of  New- 
York  and  Philadelphia,  to  repay  with  their  plunder  the  losses  incurred  by  the 
desolation  of  Virginia  ;  and  while  you  repose  in  a  security,  based  upon  the  vast 
population  and  resources  of  these  cities,  you  must  remember,  that  military  suc- 
cess depends  in  some  cases  entirely  upon  organization.  Ridgeley,  in  his  account 
of  Buena  Vista,  says,  there  were  Mexicans  enough  to  bind  every  American  and 
carry  him  into  Mexico,  but  they  lacked  organization  ;  and  to  those  familiar  with 
military  operations  it  does  not  look  like  phantasy  altogether,  (in  the  absence  of 
energetic  action  on  the  part  of  the  North.)  when  we  hear  the  apparently  wild  men- 
ace of  the  rebels  dictating  peace  before  the  walls  of  Philadelphia  and  New-York. 
Thus  I  have  glanced  briefly  at  the  elements,  strength,  and  purposes  of  the  rebel 
conspiracy.  I  have  purposely  refrained  from  the  discussion  of  the  agencies  which 
contributed  to  bring  this  scourge  upon  us  as  a  people.  I  feel,  however,  constrain- 
ed to  state  one  fact,  elicited  from  a  variety  of  sources — namely,  that  the  course  of 
some  of  the  public  men  of  the  North,  in  the  past,  has  inspired  the  rebels  with 
the  conviction  that  they  have  allies  in  the  North,  whose  overt  co-operation 
is  only  prevented  by  fears  of  mob  violence,  and  who,  at  the  sight  of  the  three 
barred  flag  would  break  the  union  of  that  North  which  now  brings  pallor  to  the 
cheek  of  treason.  And  at  different  times,  while  urging  intelligent  rebels  by  the 
terrors  of  the  national  arm,  and  pleading  with  fraternal  earnestness  in  view  of 
the  traditions  of  the  glorious  old  Flag,  to  induce  them  to  abandon  the  heresy 
and  crime  of  secession,  I  have  been  met  with  the  speeches,  resolutions,  and 
platforms  of  Northern  political  leaders,  giving  promises  to  justify  every  claim  of 
the  rebels  even  to  bloody  isolation,  as  a  remedy  for  the  alleged  wrongs  of  the 
South  ;  and  this  blighting  stultification  paralyzes  even  now,  in  a  great  measure, 
all  attempts  to  convince  the  rebels  that  the  North  and  nation  are  verily  in  earnest. 

These  are  some  of  the  facts  in  view  of  which  we  must  act.  If  any  man 
doubted  that  we  are  fighting  practically  an  aroused  nation,  the  march  from 
Fortress  Monroe  to  Richmond,  presenting  seventy  miles  of  desolated  homesteads 
and  abandoned  plantations,  is  calculated  to  correct  and  convince  him.  And  under 


87 

the  views  and  information  to  which  the  mass  of  the  rebels  are  limited,  they, 
doubtless,  earnestly  believe,  that  the  war  in  which  they  are  engaged'  is  as 
righteous,  justifiable,  and  hopeful  as  that  of  the  Revolution  of  '76. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  then,  it  is  not  simply  an  expedient,  subject  to  our 
discretion,  which  way  to  use  to  put  down  the  rebellion  ;  for  it  is  patent  to  the 
humblest  understanding,  that  an  earnest  purpose  to  put  down  rebellion  will  be 
indicated  by  using  every  instrumentality  calculated  to  compass  that  end.  If 
this  be  so,  then,  how  are  we  to  understand  a  discussion  of  three  weeks'  duration, 
as  to  whether  it  would  not  be  better  to  prohibit  by  law,  the  use  of  loyal  men  of  a 
particular  shade  in  quelling  this  rebellion.  The  arguments  adverse  to  the 
employment  of  blacks  being  silenced  by  the  Battle  of  New  Orleans,  and  more 
emphatically  so,  by  the  operations  in  Hayti  in  the  attempt  to  re-enslave  that 
people — when  the  negroes,  under  the  leadership  of  a  man  born  a  slave,  hurled 
the  disciplined  troops  of  two  of  the  most  warlike  nations  of  Europe,  quivering 
from  their  shores  ;  when  only  by  a  meanly  contrived  strategem  of  the  great 
Napoleon,  and  by  it  getting  the  person  of  L'Overture  in  his  power,  could  France 
temporarily  subdue  the  little  island  of  Hayti.  I  am  not  advocating  either  the 
social  or  .  political  rights  of  any  race,  adversely.  I  prefer  to  speak  on  one 
subject  at  a  time,  and  I  speak  of  the  muscles  of  a  black  man  as  I  would  of  the 
muscles  of  a  horse,  for  a  definite  purpose  ;  and,  in  my  opinion,  nothing  can 
transcend  the  beetle-heeded  stupidity  of  those  men,  who  cannot  discuss  the 
digging  of  trenches  and  shooting  of  rifles  without  merging,  by  an  affinity  of 
ideas  known  only  to  themselves,  into  the  most  occult  questions  of  ethnology,  as 
to  essential  equalities  of  races,  etc.  How  absurd  it  would  seem  if  we  stood  in 
"  Fives  Court,"  London,  about  a  century  ago,  while  Cribb  and  Moleneaux  were 
contending  for  the  championship  of  England,  and  would  there  suggest  the 
essential  difference  of  the  white  and  black  races  as  a  settlement  of  the  question 
contested  by  the  two  giants.  It  will  be  remembered  that  on  that  occasion  the 
black  was  beaten  by  foul  play — a  thing  of  which  the  negro  seems  to  have  always 
had  his  share.  I  would  suggest  to  these  philosophers  that  we  do  not  stick  to 
purity  of  races  in  the  army  now.  A  mule  compared  to  a  horse  would  be  consid- 
ered a  rather  illegitimate  style  of  an  animal,  yet  nothing  but  mules  could  pull 
long  enough  and  fast  enough  to  suit  our  recent  march  to  the  James  River,  not- 
withstanding the  inferiority  of  the  race.  But,  seriously,  I  would  here  make  a 
remark  which  I  will  not  allow  my  shoulder-straps  to  suppress ;  shoulder-straps 
or  no  shoulder-straps,  I  say  that  1  have  seen  men  suffering  the  privations  insepa- 
rable from  the  line  of  duty  during  the  recent  campaign  on  the  Isthmus,  doing  a 
hard  day's  duty  in  the  field,  followed  by  a  hard  tour  of  duty  in  digging  trenches, 
and  human  nature  has  sunk  beneath  the  load,  and  I  have  seen  them  rolled  in 
their  blanket  and  laid  down  in  their  final  rest — superinduced,  doubtless,  by  a  tax 
upon  their  energies  which  might  have  been  divided  with  the  slave,  who  must, 
inevitably,  share  the  benefit  of  the  triumph.  I  leave  the  transcendental  philoso- 
phers to  defend  that  policy  which  sacrifices  a  white  man  to  save  a  black  one, 
while  at  the  same  time,  contending  for  the  superiority  of  the  former.  Let  every 
man  who  claims  to  be  a  patriot  banish  his  theories  of  the  past,  and  suspend  his 
schemes  for  the  future,  wherever  they  would  interfere  with  present  usefulness. 
We  are  now  at  war  with  the  rebels,  we  are  now  at  war  with  the  rebels  ,•  therefore, 
all  words  and  acts  indicating  any  other  treatment  of  the  rebellion  than  by  the 
sword,  is  treason  or  imbecility.  When  war  begins,  diplomacy  is  exhausted. 
That  man  is  simply  a  knave  who  speaks  of  conciliation  while  the  red  tide  of 
blood  dyes  the  banks  of  the  James  and  the  Chickahominy.  The  two  policies  of 
combatin"-  and  conciliation  cannot  be  at  the  same  time  pursued  by  the  Govern- 
ment. And  it  is  a  still  bolder  treason  and  fraud  to  suppose  that  they  can  be  both 
applied  by  a  general  in  the  field.  It  would  seem  in  the  past,  as  if  some  of  our 
generals  thought  Civil  War,  meant  a  war  conducted  without  giving  offence  to 
the  enemy  And  some  have  secured  the  applause  of  the  enemy  by  olive  branch 
campaigns  and  conciliatory  conflicts!  Let  the  line  be  drawn  at  once  and  let 
those  who  still  chirp  conciliation  seek  the  purlieus  of  putrid  politics,  and  let  not 


the  "  tainted  rebel  stain  the  soldier."  I  here  utter  an  apothegm,  and  recommend 
to  rigid  application  ;  whenever  a  general  has  become  popular  with  the  enemy, 
it  is  time  that  we  were  done  with  him.  The  American  Nation  mean  to  conquer 
treason,  and  will  view  as  enemies  those  who  stand  between  them  and  the  foes  of 
our  flag.  We  cannot  conquer  without  being  deeply  in  earnest ;  for  our  enemy 
is  determined,  numerous,  and  brave,  and  your  superior  numbers  and  resources 
will  not  save  you  unless  you  bring  them  to  bear. 

Xo  man  will  think  ligutly  of  this  contest,  who  stood,  as  I  did,  at  Fair  Oaks, 
and  saw  the  enemy  for  six  hours  pour  their  masses  into  the  very  jaws  of  death ; 
for  I  saw  them  march  boldly  into  the  open  field,  as  near  as  the  outskirts  of  this 
assemblage,  where  every  discharge  of  our  cannon  marked  a  deep  gulf  in  the 
advancing  mass,  who  still  advanced,  literally  over  heaps  of  the  dead,  till  that 
bloody  arena  was  so  covered  with  prostrate  confederates,  till  at  nightfall,  it  was 
like  a  ghastly  bivouac,  terribly  significant  of  the  desperate  energy  of  the  rebellion. 

Yet  we  will  triumph  !  I  feel  assured  in  saying  this,  from  the  evidence  of  my 
senses,  of  the  indomitable  valor  of  the  individual  soldier  in  the  Union  ranks. 
And  I  will  confess  to  some  surprise  at  the  bravery  and  efficiency  of  mere  boys 
on  the  battle-field.  I  saw  young  Americans  in  the  Union  ranks,  so  light  aud 
frail,  as  to  preclude  their  acceptance  as  soldiers,  having  been  mustered  as  drum- 
ers,  shoulder  rifles  and  rush  into  the  fight,  loading  and  firing  with  a  rapidity  and 
tact,  that  brought  many  a  brown  uniform  to  the  dust.  And  when,  after  a  con- 
flict of  over  six  hours'  duration,  in  various  duties  and  parts  of  the  field,  I  found 
myself  surrounded  by  nine  members  of  my  command,  whose  devotion  found 
expression  in  voluntarily  remaining  by  my  side,  two  of  the  nine  were  drummer- 
boys,  their  faces  begrimed  with  powder,  but  lit  up  with  an  inspiration  that 
showed  they  felt  the  majesty  of  their  mission.  How  can  such  an  army  be  finally 
conquered  ?  is  there  not  a  sublimity  in  that  comparatively  little  band  of  Spartans 
making  a  Thermopyte  of  Harrison's  Bar,  and  holding  their  clinched  hands  in 
defiance  at  the  rebel  hosts  around  them.  Shall  these  men  cry  in  vain  for  a  suffi- 
cient number  to  join  their  decimated  ranks,  to  give  them  a  proximate  equality 
of  numbers  for  the  last  grand  contest,  where  all  the  hopes  of  our  hearts  are  at 
stake?  Is  not  this  blood  too  precious  to  shed  in  contests  where  nothing  is  de- 
termined, except  to  show  the  world  that  our  country  is  a  nation  of  soldiers  ? 

Then  promptly  furnish  the  three  hundred  thousand  bayonets  that  will  end  this 
contest  with  the  lasting  triumph  of  Liberty  and  Union.  And  my  word  for  it, 
that  if  this  be  promptly  done  the  cadence  of  three  hundred  thousand  marching 
on  the  rebel  capital  will  shake  with  their  earthquake  tread  the  centre  of  the 
rebellion,  and  there  will  be  no  more  battles  in  the  sense  of  Pittsburg  Landing, 
Fort  Donelson,  Fair  Oaks,  and  the  contests  of  the  last  two  weeks.  Then  what 
we  -\vant  is,  that  you,  your  lathers,  brothers,  friends,  join  in  every  movement  cal- 
culated to  haste  the  consummation  by  a  rapid  reinforcement  of  the  army  on  the 
James  River.  Let  no  man  or  boy  who  can  bear  a  rifle  mistake  or  neglect  his 
duty  in  this  hour  of  our  country's  peril.  In  this  great  contest  there  is  not  a 
man  in  this  broad  land  so  humble  as  to  be  removed  from  the  consequences  of 
the  issue. 

I  have  sometimes,  while  pacing  outside  of  my  tent  under  the  beautiful  star- 
lio-ht  of  a  Virginia  sky,  the  quiet  and  darkness  inspiring  a  reflective  mood,  tried 
to3  grasp  the  momentous  interests  involved  in  this  struggle.  I  have  looked  in 
imagination  into  the  dark  gulf  of  disintegration  and  ruin  upon  the  verge  of 
which  our  country  seemed  to  stand  upon  a  trembling  base,  and  contemplated  the 
possibility  of  the  splendid  temple  of  our  Liberties  and  Nationality  broken  into  as 
many  conflicting  fragments  as  there  are  States  and  Territories,  with  rival 
interests,  institutions,  policies  and  prejudices,  prescriptive  passports,  postage 
and  commercial  laws,  contiguous  territory  and  consequent  necessities  for  ponder- 
ous military  establishments,  with  the  perpetual  danger  and  tendency  of  a  combi- 
nation of  a  portion  against  the  remainder,  and  the  temptation  to  foreign  invasion, 
till,  with  rapid  pace  and  throbbing  brow,  I  have  wondered  if  these  reflections 
are  a  secret,  or  how  men  can  be  so  dead  in  the  midst  of  a  storm  so  portentous. 


Then  let  us  be  admonished,  and  know  that  national  existence,  liberty,  order,  law, 
the  organization  of  human  society  upon  a  civilized  basis,  and  the  vast  charge 
given  us  by  our  fathers  for  posterity,  signified  in  the  star-spangled  emblem  of  the 
brotherhood  of  freemen — all  tremble  in  precarious  existence,  so  long  as  there  is 
upon  the  continent  a  pole  on  end  with  the  three-barred  ensign  of  treason  and 
murder  upon  it.  And  let  us  not  only  bring  to  a  bloody  grave  this  monster  of 
our  day,  but  let  us  bring  our  children,  like  young  Hannibals,  to  the  altar  of  our 
country,  and  from  their  infant  lips  extort  the  obligation  that  will  doom  the  man 
whose  temerity  leads  him  to  the  remotest  sympathy  with  the  foul  instigators  of 
this  hideous  drama. 

The  whites  of  the  South  plead,  by  the  circumstances  to  which  I  have  hurriedly 
alluded,  for  deliverance ;  for  a  large  portion  of  the  passion  and  patriotism  now 
swelling  the  rebellion  would,  by  the  power  of  a  free  press  and  an  honest  pulpit, 
be  converted  to  the  cause  of  the  Union.  But  you  must  remember  that  the  iron 
arm  which  now  grasps  the  throat  of  press  and  pulpit  in  the  rebel  States,  must  be 
broken  with  the  sword  before  you  can  inaugurate  these  remedial  measures.  A 
free  press  and  an  honest  pulpit  cannot  precede  your  arms,  but  can  only  come  on 
the  heel  of  rifled  cannon  and  Federal  bayonets. 

Then  let  us  show  how  we  prize  our  liberties  by  alacrity  in  their  defence  ;  let 
us  not  be  stingy  of  blood  where  it  will  bring  such  large  revenue  of  blessings  to 
our  country  and  the  human  race.  And  doing  our  duty  in  this  dark  hour,  we 
will  sustain  that  flag  whose  folds  are  radiant  with  glorious  memories  of  the  past, 
with  all  its  proud  significance  intensified  by  the  struggle,  and  see  our  country 
rise  from  this  bloody  baptism  into  a  new  life  and  majesty  as  truly  the  land  of  the 
FREE  and  the  home  of  the  BRAVE.  We  will  triumph  the  moment  we  deserve  to. 
Then  let  us  vindicate  on  the  field  our  sincerity  when  we  say, — 

"  Forever  float  that  standard  sheet, 

Where  breathes  the  foe  but  falls  before  us  ? 
With  freedom's  soil  beneath  our  feet, 
And  freedom's  banner  floating  o'er  us." 

SPEECH  OF  COLONEL  SIMON  H.  MIX. 

Colonel  SIMON  H.  Mix,  of  the  Second  New- York  cavalry, 
Burnside's  expedition,  came  forward,  and  was  greeted  with 
cheers.  He  spoke  as  follows : — 

My  fellow-citizens,  it  is  the  duty  of  a  soldier  at  all  times  to  fight.  [A  voice, 
"  We  know  that."]  It  is  sometimes  the  duty  of  a  soldier  to  speak.  1  cons-ider 
this  as  one  of  those  occasions  ;  for  inasmuch  as  I  am  incapacitated  from  doing 
the  former,  through  the  politeness  of  an  invitation  extended  to  me  by  your  com- 
mittee, I  shall  try  my  hand  at  the  latter.  It  seems  to  me,  my  fellow-citizens,  but 
a  day  since  I  left  the  city  of  New-York  to  go  to  the  battle-field.  Almost  the 
last  day  I  spent  in  this  city  was  on  the  occasion  of  a  great  monster  meeting  in 
this  Square,  held  about  eighteen  months  ago.  I  then  resolved  to  go  to  the  in- 
terior of  the  State,  from  whence  I  came,  and  appeal  to  the  Union  men  there  and 
raise  a  cavalry  regiment,  and  I  did  not  appeal  in  vain.  My  friends,  I  wish  to  say 
here  distinctly  that  I  am  not  here  for  the  purpose  of  criticising  any  of  the  acts 
of  my  superiors.  With  the  man  who  is  placed  over  me  will  1  serve  and  fight  at 
all  times.  [Vociferous  cheering.]  I  have  served  under  Gen.  McClellan.  [Here 
three  cheers  were  given  for  Gen.  McClellan.]  I  have  served  under  Gen.  Banks 

[cheers] I  have  served  under  the  great  and  glorious  JJurnside.       [Great 

cheering.]  In  this  connection  I  wish  to  say  a  word.  Experience  is  the  best 
teacher" and  when  any  man  comes  to  you  and  tells  you  if  the  ne.-rroes  of  the 
South  are  employed  in  the  army  the  soldiers  that  we  have  there  will  not  fight, 
do  you  tell  that  man  he  is  a  fool,  and  that  he  does  not  know  what  he  id  talking 

12 


90 

about.  [Great  cheering.]  In  the  South  they  have  what  we  term  farmers  by 
day  and  soldiers  by  night ;  rebel  bandits,  who  prowl  around  and  shoot  down  our 
soldiers  upon  the  outposts.  Only  yesterday,  when  I  came  from  Newbern.  I 
brought  several  soldiers  of  my  ivgiment  who  had  suffered  in  that  way.  I  would 
take  tbe  negroes  of  the  South  and  put  muskets  in  tht-ir  hands,  for  nowhere  in 
the  swamps  of  North  Carolina  can  you  find  a  path  where  a  dog  can  go  that  the 
negro  does  not  understand.  Thtre  are  gentlemen  here  who  will  bear  me  witness 
when  I  state  this  fact,  that  in  all  our  expeditions  in  North  Carolina  we  have  de- 
pended upon  the  negroes  for  our  guides  ;  for  without  them  we  could  not  have 
moved  with  any  safety  The  information  we  have  received  from  them  has  always 
been  reliable  and  always  correct.  I  have  never  known  an  instance  to  the  con- 
trary. [Applause.]  My  friends,  you  all  no  doubt  wonder  how  it  is  that  the 
South  has  arrayed  in  front  of  the  Federal  army  at  Richmond  two  hundred  thou- 
sand men.  But  it  can  be  easily  explained.  Every  man  in  the  South 
who  can  carry  a  shot-gun,  had,  of  necessity  to  become  a  soldier.  There 
are  two  classes  in  the  South — the  representative  men,  who  number  fifteen 
or  twenty  in  a  county,  and  the  poor  whites,  if  you  throw  out  of  the 
account  the  blacks ;  but  so  far  as  my  observation  extends,  the  blacks  are 
a  much  superior  class  in  intellect  to  the  poor  degraded  whites  of  the  South. 
What  is  done  with  these  poor  whites  ?  They  are  dragged  ruthlessly  from  their 
homes,  and  compelled  to  go  into  the  army.  When  I  first  reached  Newbern.  the 
duty  was  assigned  to  me  to  advance  into  the  country  thirty  miles  on  each  side, 
over  ground  that  our  troops  had  not  before  then  occupied.  Wherever  I  went  I 
found  houses  deserted,  and  the  mothers,  wives  and  children  weeping  for  those 
who  had  been  taken  from  their  homes  and  curried  to  the  army. 

I  hold  in  my  hand  a  scrap  of  paper,  from  The  Raleigh.  Standard,  which 
contains  the  following  : — 

HEAD-QUARTERS  N.  C.  MILITIA,  ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S  OFFICE,  ) 
RALEIGH,  Dec.  2lst,  1861.      )" 

SPECIAL  ORDER  No.  77. — Lieut.  Sanford  Earnest,  of  the  71st  Regiment  N.  C.  Militia, 
having  declared  his  preference  for  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  having  de- 
clined to  march  under  the  flag  of  the  Confederate  States,  is  hereby  dismissed,  being  un- 
worthy of  a  commission  in  the  Militia  of  the  State — and  will  hereafter  do  duty  as  a 
private. 

The  Colonel  will  have  this  order  read  before  the  Regiment,  and  printed  in  the  news- 
papers of  his  county. 

By  order  of  the  Commander-in-Chief, 

J.  G.  MARTIN,  Adjutant-General. 

That  is  the  way  they  are  treated.     [Cries  of  '•  Shame,  shame !"] 

The  Colonel  proceeded  to  give  some  further  incidents  connected 
with  his  experiences  while  in  North  Carolina,  which  were  listened 
to  with  great  interest,  but  brought  his  speech  abruptly  to  a  close — 
the  rain,  which  came  up  so  suddenly,  having  already  began  to 
fall,  and  causing  the  hasty  dispersion  of  a  large  portion  of  the  im- 
mense throng. 


91 

At  this  juncture  a  rain-storm  set  in  and  rendered  an  adjourn- 
ment absolutely  necessary ;  but  previous  to  separating,  FRANK 
W.  BALLARD  moved,  and  CEPHAS  BRAINERD  seconded,  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions,  which -were  adopted  : — 

Resolved,  That  the  young  men  of  New- York,  alive  to  the  exigencies  of  the 
crisis  now  upon  the  country,  and,  as  ever,  devoted  to  the  preservation  of  the  pure 
democratic  principle,  are  bound  by  every  interest  to  press  forward  into  the 
ranks,  and,  in  the  most  earnest,  speedy,  and  effectual  manner,  put  an  end  forever 
to  the  accursed  idea  of  Secession  and  Disunion.  To  us  life  is  valueless  without 
Liberty,  Liberty  useless  without  Union,  and  Union  merely  nominal  if  the  idea  of 
Secession  is  not  finally  and  forever  put  to  sleep,  beyond  an  awakening  this  side 
of  Hell. 

Resolved,  That,  while  we  have  no  sympathy  with  any  class  of  demagogues  who 
place  conditions  upon  their  professions  of  loyalty  to  the  Union,  we  are  sensible 
that  our  army  is  waging  this  war  with  fettered  hands,  and  we  beseech  this 
Government  to  overstep  the  constructive  bounds  which  prevent  the  employment 
of  every,  EVERY,  EVERY  means  of  suppressing  this  infernal  rebellion. 


The  Committee  of  Arrangements  and  the  public  were  indebted 
to  Major  WILLARD  of  the  Anthon  Battery  of  Light  Artillery, 
and  to  Messrs.  BREWSTER  &  Co.  and  the  workmen  of  their  manu- 
factory, for  the  salutes  which  were  fired  at  stated  periods  during 
the  proceedings. 

Their  thanks  are  also  due  to  the  gentlemen  who  kindly  volun- 
teered their  services  as  a  Chorus,  and  who  added  so  much  to  the 
interest  of  the  proceedings. 

They  were  Messrs.  Henry  Camp,  Sigismund  Lasar,  F.  G.  Taylor, 
Charles  Loomis,  Henry  Molten,  Geo.  1ST.  Seymour,  Joseph  B. 
Mather,  John  J.  Ennis,  E.  G.  Bartlett,  Geo.  E.  Aiken,  Jonathan 
Aiken,  Charles  Aiken,  Henry  J.  Wright,  and  Messrs.  Anderson 
and  Deyo. 


INVITATION  TO  DISTINGUISHED  CITIZENS  TO  ADDRESS  THE 
MEETING  OF  LOYAL  CITIZENS. 

NEW  YORK,  July  Ilth,  1862. 

SIR, — At  a  Convention  of  Committees,  severally  appointed  by  the  Common 
Council  of  this  city,  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  State  of  New- York,  by 
the  Union  Defence  Committee,  and  by  bodies  of  Loyal  Citizens  of  this  city,  it 
was  resolved  to  hold,  on  Tuesday,  the  1 5th  instant,  a  Mass  Meeting  of  all  parties 
who  are  in  favor  of  supporting  the  Government  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war 
and  suppressing  the  rebellion,  and  to  express,  without  reference  to  any  party 
question  whatever,  their  undiminished  confidence  in  the  justice  of  the  cause,  and 
their  inflexible  determination  to  sustain  it ;  and  to  that  end  to  proffer  to  the 
Government  their  aid  to  the  extent  of  all  their  resources. 

In  accordance  with  this  purpose,  the  undersigned  were  appointed  by  the  Con- 
vention a  Committee  to  invite  distinguished  citizens,  of  all  parties,  to  address  the 
meeting  upon  its  object,  and  in  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  convened. 

In  performance  of  this  duty,  it  affords  us  much  pleasure  to  request  that  you 
will  address  the  meeting  on  that  occasion.  Be  pleased  to  give  us  your  accept- 
ance of  this  invitation,  by  note,  addressed  to  the  Secretary  of  this  Committee,  at 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  as  soon  as  convenient. 

JAMES  W.  WHITE,          ") 

GEO.  OPDYKE, 

SAMUEL  SLOAN,  0  »   .  n 

PROSPER  M.  WETMORE,  \  Mect  C°™™ttee' 

DENNING  DUER, 

CHARLES  GOULD, 

CHAS.  GOULD,  Secretary. 


GENTLEMEN  INVITED  TO  ADDRESS  THE  MEETING, 


Hon.  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD, 
HON.  SALMON  P.  CHASE, 
Hon.  EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 
Hon.  GIDEON  WELLES, 
Hon.  MONTGOMERY  BLAIR, 
Hon.  EDWARD  BATES, 
Hon.  CALEB  B.  SMITH, 
Hon.  HANNIBAL  HAMLIN, 
Gov.  EDWIN  D.  MORGAN, 
Gov.  JOHN  A.  ANDREW, 
Gov.  ISRAEL  WASHBURN,  Jr., 
Gov.  N.  S.  BERRY, 
Gov.  FREDERICK  HOLBROOK, 
Gov.  WILLIAM  A.  BUCKINGHAM, 
Gov.  CHARLES  S.  OLDEN, 
Gov.  A.  G.  CURTIN, 
Gov.  A.  W.  BRADFORD, 
Gov.  F.  H.  PEIRPONT, 
Gov.  AUSTIN  BLAIR, 
Gov.  ANDREW  JOHNSON, 
Gov.  H.  R.  GAMBLE, 
Gov.  O.  P.  MORTON, 
Gov.  DAVID  TODD, 
Gov.  ALEXANDER  RAMSEY, 
Gov.  RICHARD  TATES. 
Gov.  EDWARD  SALOMON, 
Gov.  WILLIAM  SPRAGUE. 
Hon.  LOT  M.  MORRILL, 
Hon.  WILLIAM  P.  FESSENDEN, 
Hon.  JOHN  P.  HALE, 
Hon.  PRESTON  KING, 
Hon.  IRA  HARRIS, 
Hon.  JOHN  SHERMAN, 
Hon.  BENJ.  F.  WADE, 
Hon.  DAVID  WILMOT, 
Hon.  H.  B.  ANTHONY, 
Hon.  SOLOMON  FOOT, 
Hon.  JACOB  COLLAMER, 
Hon.  CHARLES  SUMNER, 
Hon.  HENRY  WILSON, 
Hon.  ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER, 
Hon.  J.  W.  GRIMES, 
Hon.  LYMAN  TRUMBULL, 
Hon.  HENRY  M.  RICE, 
Hon.  M.  S.  WILKINSON, 
Hon.  J.  B.  HENDERSON, 
Hon.  JOSEPH  A.  WRIGHT, 
Hon.  MOSES  F.  ODELL, 
Hon.  WILLIAM  WALL, 
Hon.  ALFRED  ELY, 
Hon.  DANIEL  S.  DICKINSON, 
Hon.  EDWARD  HAIGHT, 
Hon.  FREDERICK  A.  CONKLING, 

Hon.  SCHOYLER  COLFAX, 


Hon.  OWEN  LOVEJOY, 

Hon.  JOHN  F.  POTTER, 

Hon.  ELIJAH  WARD, 

Hon.  ROSCOE  CONKLINO, 

Hon.  GALUSHA  A.  GROW, 

Hon.  FRANCIS  P.  BLAIR,  Jr., 

Hon.  HENRY  L.  DAWES, 

Hon.  ELISHA  B.  WASHBURNE, 

Hon.  LYMAN  TREMAINE, 

Hon.  RICHARD  B.  CONNOLLY, 

Hon.  GEORGE  BANCROFT, 

Hon.  HORACE  BINNEY, 

Hon.  EDWARD  EVERETT, 

Hon.  JOHN  A.  KING, 

Hon.  JOSEPH  HOLT. 

Hon.  CARL  SHULZ, 

Gen.  HIRAM  WALBRIDGE, 

JOHN  W  FORNEY,  Esq., 

WILLIAM  CURTIS  NOYES,  Esq., 

Maj.  Gen'l  JOHN  C.  FREMONT,  U.  S.  A. 

DAVID  DUDLEY  FIELD,  Esq., 

Com.  ANDREW  H.  FOOTE, 

RICHARD  BUSTEED,  Esq., 

WILLIAM  M.  EVARTS,  Esq., 

JAMES  T.  BRADY,  Esq., 

FRANCIS  B.  CUTTING,  Esq., 

CHARLES  KING,  Esq., 

Rev.  Dr.  H.  W.  BELLOWS, 

Rev.  Dr.  R.  W.  HITCHCOCK, 

Rev.  Dr.  VINTON, 

Rev.  W.  G.  BROWNLOW, 

Rev.  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER, 

Kev.  J.  P.  THOMPSON, 

Major  Gen'l  JOHN  E.  WOOL, 

Brig.  Gen'l  FRANZ  SIGEL, 

Brig.  Gen'l  SHIELDS, 

Brig.  Gen.  S.  VAN  VLIET, 

General  LEWIS  WALLACE, 

Col.  FRANCIS  B.  SPINOLA, 

Judge  CHAS.  P.  DALY, 

Prof.  A.  D.  BACHE, 

Lieut.  Genl  WINFIELD  SCOTT, 

Major  Gen'l  JOHN  A.  Dix, 

Major  Genl  JAMES  S.  WADSWORTH, 

Brig.  Gen'l  JOHN  COCHRANE, 

Brig.  Genl  O.  M.  MITCHELL, 

Judge  EDWARDS  PIERREPONT, 

FREDERICK  KAPP,  Esq., 

ORESTES  A.  BROWNSON,  Esq., 

L.  E.  CHITTKNDEN.  Esq., 

I).  S.  CODDIN«TON,  Esq., 

JAMES  A.  BRIGGS,  Esq., 

OEORGE  GIBBS.  Esq. 

Hon.  W.  H.  WALLACE, 


REPLIES  OF  DISTINGUISHED  CITIZENS, 


LETTER  FROM  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  SECRETARY   OF   STATE. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 
WASHINGTON,  \4tk  July,  1862. 

To  James  W.  White,  George  Opdyke,  and  others,  Esquires, 
Select  Committee,  fyc.  : 

GENTLEMEN, — Your  note,  inviting  me  to  attend  a  meeting  of  loyal  citizens  of 
New- York,  to  be  held  to-morrow  evening,  has  been  received. 

The  objects  of  the  meeting  are  of  vital  importance.  They  involve  nothing  less 
than  a  choice  between  an  early  peace,  with  the  deliverance  of  the  nation  from  all 
surrounding  dangers,  or  a  protracted  war,  with  hazards  of  ultimate  national  dis- 
solution. 

Public  duties  forbid  my  leaving  the  Capital  at  this  moment  ;  but  I  have  given 
to  the  only  male  member  of  my  family,  not  already  in  the  public  service,  per- 
mission to  enroll  himself  as  a  private  in  the  ranks  of  the  volunteers,  which  it  is 
your  purpose  to  send  into  the  field. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  gentlemen, 

Your  very  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 


LETTER  OF  E.  D.  MORGAN,  GOVERNOR  OF  STATE  OF  NEW-YORK. 

STATE  OF  NEW- YORK,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  ) 
ALBANY,  July  14th,  1862.       j 
GENTLEMEN  : 

I  have  received  your  invitation  to  be  present  and  address  the  mass  meeting  of 
the  citizens  of  New-York,  on  Union  Square,  to-morrow  afternoon,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  expressing  their  undiminished  confidence  in  the  justice  of  our  cause,  and 
to  proffer  to  the  Government  their  aid,  to  the  extent  of  their  resources. 

I  feel  that  this  gathering  will  be  worthy  the  occasion  which  calls  it  forth,  worthy 
the  great  city  whose  potential  voice  has  more  than  once  given  encouragement  to 
the  Government  and  country  in  the  dark  hours  of  this  struggle — a  meeting  that 
will  be  remembered  in  after-time,  as  an  index  of  the  mighty  spirit  that  moved 
the  people  of  1862,  to  declare  anew  that  the  Union  "  must  and  shall  be  pre- 
served." 

The  preliminary  work  of  enlistment,  just  now,  seems  to  demand  my  presence 
here,  and  I  shall,  therefore,  be  unable  to  meet  with  you  to-morrow.  But  my 
interest  will  be  in  no  degree  abated  because  of  my  absence,  for  I  feel  that  the 
action  of  New- York  at  this  time  is  a  matter  of  the  deepest  importance.  Let  the 
great  metropolis  of  the  country  again  emphatically  declare  its  purpose  to  uphold 
the  cause  of  the  Union  to  the  last,  by  giving  of  its  men  and  means,  if  necessary, 
"  to  the  extent  of  its  resources,"  and  it  will  arouse  the  whole  country.  Already 
meetings  are  appointed  for  the  same  evening  as  your  own.  This  capital  and 
other  cities  will  have  their  masses  in  council  at  the  same  hour  that  you  are  col- 
lected together.  Here,  as  in  New- York  and  elsewhere,  matters  of  mere  political 
policy  are,  as  they  should  be,  forgotten,  and  partisan  clamor  hushed,  in  view  of 
the  country's  peril.  Let  us,  for  the  present  at  least,  only  remember  that  we  are 


95 

fellow-members  of  a  commonwealth.  Let  us  show  that  in  the  hour  of  danger  we 
can  rise  superior  to  the  prejudices  of  the  past,  and  together  prepare  to  defend, 
successfully,  the  ';  palladium  of  our  political  safety  and  happiness." 

A  period  has  come  when  none  can  hesitate,  none  can  be  idle.  In  the  prov- 
idence of  God,  it  would  seem  that  before  the  evil  cloud  shall  pass,  all  must  be 
brought  to  sacrifice  something  for  the  country's  cause  ;  either  to  render  personal 
service  in  the  field,  furnish  material  aid,  or  assume  the  care  of  families  of  volun- 
teers. So  much  is  duty.  Let  it  be  done,  and  done  quickly.  In  perilous  times, 
delay  is  treason.  The  necessities  of  our  situation  are  inevitable.  The  questions 
presented  are  terribly  practical.  Men  are  the  want  of  the  hour.  Our  State  will 
respond  to  the  call  of  the  President ;  but  to  assure  this,  the  families  of  volunteers 
must  be  provided  for.  While  fi»hting  for  fireside  rights,  their  own  firesides,  in 
their  absence,  must  not  be  permitted  to  be  darkened  by  want.  If  the  response 
to  the  requisition  is  promptly  made,  we  may  expect  increased  vigor  in  putting 
down  the  rebellion  and  vindicating  the  national  power,  and  that  blows  quick  and 
heavy  shall  be  made  to  fall  upon  the  staggering  forces  of  the  insurgents.  All  the 
powers  possessed  by  the  leaders  of  the  rebellion  are  being  used  by  them  with 
passionate  zeal.  Let  us,  then,  ask  that  they  be  met  with  at  least  equal  earnestness 
by  the  National  Government.  Longer  lenity  to  rebels  is  rank  injustice  to  loyal 
men. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

E.  D.  MORGAN. 

To  JAMES  W.  WHITE,  Esq.  Hon.  GEO.  OPDYKE,  Hon.  SAMUEL  SLOAN,  PROSPER 
M.  WETMORE,  Esq.,  DENNING  DUER,  Esq.,  CHARLES  GOULD,  Esq.,  Committee. 


LETTER  OF   F.  H.   PEIRPOINT,  GOV.   OF   VIRGINIA. 

EXECUTIVE  CHAMBER,  WHEELING,  VA..  ( 
July  16//t,  1802.  f 

James  W.  White,  George  Opdyke,  Samuel  Sloan,  and  others,  N.  Y.  : 

GENTLEMEN, — Your  favor  requesting  me  to  address  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of 
New-York,  composed  of  all  persons,  without  distinction  of  party,  who  are  in 
favor  of  prosecuting  the  war  and  suppressing  the  rebellion,  is  received.  The  delay 
of  the  mail  in  bringing  your  request  in  time,  if  no  other  cause,  prevents  my  being 
with  you.  I  would  like  to  be  there.  The  heart  of  every  true  patriot  will  re- 
spond to  the  object  of  the  meeting  with  a  joyful  Amen. 

New-York  now  occupies  a  position  second  to  no  other  city  in  the  world.  She 
controls  the  finances  and  commerce  of  the  continent.  Your  city  is  one  of  the 
triumphs  of  American  freedom.  Put  down  the  rebellion,  establish  free  schools, 
a  free  press  and  free  speech  in  the  Southern  States,  and  New-York's  present  is 
only  the  beginning  of  her  future  greatness.  It  is  right  that  auch  movement 
should  commence  there. 

You  say  the  object  of  the  meeting  is  "  to  express,  without  reference  to  any 
party  question  whatever,  your  undiminished  confidence  in  the  justice  of  the  cause, 
and  your  inflexible  determination  to  sustain  it ;  and,  to  that  end,  to  proffer  to 
the  Government  your  aid,  to  the  extent  of  all  your  resources." 

Gentlemen  these  words  have  the  ring  of  the  pure  metal.  They  will  gladden 
the  throbbino-  heart  of  the  nation.  What  patriot  will  stop  at  this  hour  of  his 
country's  peril  to  cavil  about  party  ?  Be  sure  that  we  have  a  country  to  govern, 
before  we  beoin  the  contest  who  shall  govern  it.  The  cup  of  our  political  sins 
will  not  be  drained,  until  we  can  look  beyond  party  to  our  country,  and  our  coun- 

%?"  months  before  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion,  all  that  portion  of  our 
country  outside  of  the  rebel  States  was  the  most  prosperous  and  happy  people  on 
the  face  of  the  earth.  But  the  icbels,  like  Hainan,  borne  down  by  the  weight  of 


96 

their  own  impotency,  envious  of  their  more  prosperous  neighbors,  conceived  the 
scheme  of  taking  from  us,  by  inaugurating  this  rebellion .  the  glorious  inheritance 
of  our  fathers,  purchased  by  their  blood  freely  spilled  upon  an  hundred  battle- 
fields. We  owe  it  to  ourselves,  to  posterity,  to  the  sacred  memory  of  our  fathers, 
to  mete  to  them  Hainan's  fate.  To  do  this,  we  should  be  as  economical  as 
possible  of  the  lives  of  the  loyal  soldiers,  and  provide  bountifully  for  those  going 
to  the  field  and  for  those  they  leave  behind. 

Say  to  them  when  they  go,  "  Use  all  the  means  God  and  nature  and  circum- 
stances have  put  in  your  power  to  suppress  the  rebellion  and  punish  traitors." 
Rebels'  property,  in  the  rebel  sense  of  the  word,  of  whatever  kind,  sensible  or  in- 
sensible, should  be  made  to  contribute  to  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion  in  any 
manner  that  it  can  be  made  available. 

This  war  has  been  inaugurated  and  prosecuted  by  the  rebels  without  reference 
to  the  rights  of  Union  men.  It  is  not  for  them  to  claim  constitutional  guaranties. 
They  have  no  rights  under  the  Constitution,  save  the  infliction  of  the  penalty  of 
their  crimes.  They  have  grown  insolent  by  their  dominion  over  their  own  slaves, 
until  they  have  adopted  as  their  political  axiom,  "  that  Slavery  is  the  normal 
condition  of  the  working  classes."  Upon  that  principle  they  are  attempting  to 
build  their  empire.  This  is  in  derogation  of  English  liberty  and  American 
liberty,  and  of  all  that  has  raised  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  to  its  present  greatness 
in  this  country  and  in  Europe.  It  is  an  attempt  to  degrade  every  free  laboring 
man  in  the  nation  ;  not  only  the  native  born,  but  the  German  and  Irishman,  who 
seek  an  asylum  in  this  land  of  the  free,  are  denounced  as  only  fit  for  slaves. 

Mr  Jefferson  has  given  us  advice  intended,  doubtless,  for  occasions  like  the 
present.  He  says  : — "  A  strict  observance  of  the  written  law  is,  doubtless,  one  of 
the  highest  duties  of  a  good  citizen  ;  but  not  the  highest.  The  law  of  necessity 
of  self-preservation,  of  saving  our  country  when  in  danger,  are  of  higher  obliga- 
tion. To  lose  our  country  by  a  scrupulous  adherence  to  written  law,  would  be  to 
lose  the  law  itself,  with  life,  liberty,  property,  and  all  those  who  are  enjoying  them 
with  us  ;  thus  absurdly  sacrificing  the  end  to  the  means."  Here  is  a  chart  made 
for  the  occasion  by  one  who  comprehended  our  institutions  and  the  enormities  of 
rebellion. 

Gentlemen,  this  is  the  last  contest  our  free  institutions  will  have,  if  we  put 
forth  the  strength  of  the  nation,  and  punish  rebellion  as  it  deserves.  But  re- 
member, there  is  but  one  time  left  to  put  down  the  usurpers — that  is  the  present. 
We  cannot  fold  our  arms  this  year,  and  fight  the  next.  We  must  fight  now,  or 
all  is  lost.  The  contest  is  gigantic — the  result,  the  freedom  or  enslavement  of  the 
nation.  It  is  the  removal  of  the  last  fetter  thrown  around  the  thirteen  old  colo- 
nies. Redeemed  and  disenthralled,  America  will  rise  with  new  strength,  and  in 
sublime  proportions,  the  beauty  of  the  whole  earth. 

This  is  the  most  gigantic  rebellion  the  world  ever  saw.  There  is  the  most 
gigantic  stake  being  played  for.  The  question  is  :  Shall  Saver y  or  Freedom  be 
imtversal  ?  There  is  no  concealing  it.  This  is  the  issue.  The  rebels  have  pre- 
sented and  forced  it  upon  the  nation.  We  have  accepted,  and  it  is  to  be  tried 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  and  the  muzzle  of  the  cannon  ;  and  were  it  not  for 
the  traitors  in  our  midst,  the  verdict  for  freedom  would  be  rendered  in  three 
mouths.  Every  device  that  the  devil  can  invent  and  put  into  the  heads  of  trai- 
tors, seems  to  be  brought  forward  to  keep  men  out  of  the  field,  and  to  paralyze 
the  arms  of  those  already  there.  These  traitors  are  tolerated  in  high  and  low 
places.  It  is  the  grasp  of  their  hand  now  upon  the  body  politic  that  partially 
paralyzes  our  strength.  They  are  endeavoring  to  enlarge  their  grasp.  This  is 
our  danger.  But  there  were  traitors  in  the  camp  of  Moses,  in  the  social  family 
of  Jesus  Christ ;  in  the  army  of  the  Revolution,  and  it  would  be  wonderful  if  we 
had  them  not  now  in  this  our  country's  struggle.  They  have  ever  received  their 
reward,  and  they  will,  doubtless,  in  the  present  instance. 

Gentlemen,  everything  depends  on  prompt,  resolute  and  determined  action, 
under  the  blessing  of  God. 

1  am.  yours.  &c.,  F.  II.  PEIRPOINT. 


97 

LETTER  OF  ISRAEL  WASHBURN,  JR.,  GOVERNOR  OF  MAINE. 

ING,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMEN 
AUGUSTA,  July  12th,  1862. 


STATE  OF  MAINE,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  ) 


Charles  Gould,  Esq.  : 

DEAR  SIR, — I  have  received  your  invitation  to  take  part  in  a  meeting  of  the 
faithful  citizens  of  New- York,  to  be  held  on  the  15th  instant.  While  on  that 
day  1  can  serve  the  cause,  in  the  interest  of  which  the  meeting  is  called,  only  by 
attending  to  the  duties  which  crowd  upon  me  here,  my  heart  and  hopes  will  be 
with  the  good  and  earnest  men  who  will  come  together  at  that  time  in  the  vast 
metropolis,  to  speak  to  the  American  people  of  the  demands  and  necessities  of  the 
hour.  The  country  is  in  danger,  but  it  can  and  must  be  saved.  -Let  the  people 
but  perceive  the  greatness  and  imminence  of  the  peril,  and  they  will  rise  to  the 
height  of  every  sacrifice  that  is  required  of  them.  Never  before  were  they  so 
appealed  to  by  all  that  is  strongest  and  noblest  in  manly  hearts.  The  necessity 
is  upon  them  to  fight  for  their  homes,  for  honor,  and  for  life.  Let  the  coward 
blanch  if  he  must ;  let  the  faint-hearted  fail  in  the  hour  of  his  country's  agony, 
and  let  the  miscreant  traitor  consent  that  this  fair  heritage — all  the  gains  of  all 
the  ages — the  hope  of  future  generations,  of  the  millions  yet  to  be — liberty,  civil- 
ization, "  the  thousand  years  of  peace  " — all,  all,  shall  be  cast  away  and  lost, 
utterly  and  forever — the  true  and  patriotic  men  will  unite  in  one  earnest,  resolute, 
devoted,  and  successful  effort  to  crush  out  a  revolt  so  causeless  and  wicked  as  to 
whiten  by  the  contrast  all  previous  crimes  in  the  history  of  nations. 

The  struggle  must  be  short,  sharp  and  decisive. ;  for  in  a  war  like  this,  tempo- 
rizing is  waste,  and  timidity  is  cruelty.  Every  lawful  expedient  and  means  which 
the  Government  can  lay  hold  of,  to  put  down  this  rebellion,  must  be  used  ;  and 
every  man  in  the  country,  without  respect  to  race  or  complexion,  who  can  aid  in 
this  work,  must  be  employed  for  the  sake  of  every  other  man. 

Tour  meeting  is  called,  primarily,  to  arouse  the  country  to  the  duties  of  the 
crisis;  and  so  certain  is  it  to  accomplish  this  end,  that  it  may  assure  the  Admin- 
istration at  Washington,  that  if  this  Government  is  to  be  broken  up,  it  will  not 
be  by  reason  of  any  neglect  or  fault  of  the  people. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  truly, 

Tour  obedient  servant, 

ISRAEL  WASHBURN,  JR. 


LETTER  OF  CHARLES  S.  OLDEN,  GOVERNOR  OF  NEW  JERSET. 

SEY,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMEN 
TRENTON,  July  l±th,  1862. 


STATE  OF  NEW  JERSEY,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  ) 


GENTLEMEN  : 

I  have  duly  received  your  invitation  to  attend  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of 
New- York,  to  be  held  on  the  loth  inst.  My  official  duties  are  so  pressing  and 
incessant  that  I  am  compelled  to  decline  it. 

At  such  a  time  as  this  it  is  the  plain  duty  of  every  citizen  to  devote  his  time, 
his  money,  and  his  influence  to  the  support  of  the  Government ;  if  it  is  not  now 
sustained,  our  property,  our  lives,  and  our  liberties  are  at  the  mercy  of  treason- 
able and  dissolute  factions. 

The  influence  of  your  city  upon  the  public  sentiment  of  the  country  is  justly 
great.  The  patriotic  action  of  the  proposed  meeting  of  your  citizens,  while  it 
will  be  highly  appreciated  by  the  Government,  will  produce  the  most  favorable 
effect  among  the  people,  by  cheering  the  patriotic,  encouraging  the  timid,  and 

awing  the  disloyal. 

With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

CHARLES  S.  OLDEN. 

Messrs.  JAMES  W.  WHITE,  GEO.  OPDTKE,  and  others  Sslect  Committee. 


98 

LETTER  OF  A.  W.  BRADFORD,  GOVERNOR  OF  MARYLAND. 

STATE  OP  MARYLAND,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  ) 
ANNAPOLIS,  July  14th,  1862.      f 

Hon.  James  W.  White,  George  Opdyke,  and  others,  Committee,  fyc. 

GENTLEMEN,- — I  am  honored  with  your  invitation,  just  received,  to  attend  and 
address  a  mass  meeting,  to-morrow  evening,  in  your  city,  of  "  all  parties  who  are 
in  favor  of  supporting  the  Government  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war,"  <fcc. 

My  own  engagements  at  present,  connected  chiefly  with  objects  similar  to 
those  contemplated  by  your  Convention,  and  particularly  in  promoting  by  all 
possible  means  a  prompt  response  to  the  late  call  for  volunteers,  will,  much  to 
my  regret,  compel  me  to  forego  the  pleasure  of  attending  your  meeting. 

With  my  most  cordial  wishes  for  your  complete  success,  and  the  speedy  ac- 
complishment of  the  object  we  have  in  common  at  heart, 

I  am,  with  great  respect, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

A.  W.  BRADFORD. 


LETTER  OF  RICHARD  YATES,  GOVERNOR  OF  ILLINOIS. 

STATE  OF  ILLINOIS,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  ) 
SPRINGFIELD,  July  22d,  1862.      j 

Charles  Gould,  Esq.,  Sec'y,  SfC  ,  New-York  City : 

SIR, — Your  invitation  to  attend  the  Union  mass  meeting  in  your  city,  on  the 
15th  inst.,  did  not  reach  me  until  that  day. 

It  would  have  afforded  me  much  pleasure  to  have  met  the  patriotic  citizens  of 
the  Empire  State  on  that  occasion,  and  interchange  with  them  views  upon  the 
conduct  of  the  war,  and  the  best  means  to  be  employed  in  bringing  it  to  a  speedy 
and  successful  issue. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  <tc., 

RICHARD  YATES, 

Got:  of  Illinois. 

LETTER  OF  WILLIAM  A.  BUCKINGHAM,  GOVERNOR  OF 
CONNECTICUT. 

STATE  OF  CONNECTICUT,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  ) 
NORWICH,  July  14^,  1862.      j 

Charles  Gould,  Esq.,  fyc.  : 

SIR, — Your  favor  of  the  llth  inst.  is  at  hand,  inviting  me  to  attend,  on  the 
15th  inst.,  a  meeting  of  all  parties  who  are  in  favor  of  supporting  the  Govern- 
ment and  suppressing  the  rebellion. 

While  public  duties  will  detain  me  in  this  State,  I  beg  leave  to  assure  you  of 
my  cordial  approval  of  the  object  of  the  meeting,  and  my  undiminished"  confi- 
dence that  the  citizens  of  this  Commonwealth  will  ever  be  found  co-operating 
with  those  of  other  States,  in  support  of  the  Government,  and  that,  under  God, 
they  will  be  successful  in  rescuing  it  from  the  power  of  the  rebels,  restore  peace, 
and  secure  a  higher  degree  of  civil  liberty  than  we  have  hitherto  enjoyed. 

I  am.  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  sen-ant, 

WM.  A.  BUCKINGHAM. 


99 

LETTER  OF  A.  G.  CURTIN,  GOVERNOR  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

EXECUTIVE  CHAMBER,  ) 

HARRISBURG,  PA.,  July  15th  1862.  J 
GENTLEMEN  : 

My  duties  here  will  prevent  me  from  being  present  at  your  meeting  in  New- 
York  to-morrow,  at  which  I  should  have  been  glad,  if  circumstances  had  per- 
mitted me,  to  assist. 

Pennsylvania  has  shown  by  her  conduct  how  heartily  she  sympathizes  with  her 
sister  loyal  States.  Our  people  regard  this  rebellion  as  a  vile  treason,  devoid  of 
all  excuse  or  palliation,  the  hideous  offspring  of  the  malignity  and  spite  which 
bad  men  in  inferior  and  semi-barbarous  societies  entertain  against  communities 
which  have  surpassed  them  in  all  the  elements  of  comfort,  welfare  and  civiliza- 
tion. I  think  the  popular  mind  is  fixed  in  the  belief,  that  the  one  great  present 
need  is  a  due  appreciation  by  our  Government  of  the  fact,  that  we  are  at  war, 
and  that  it  is  its  duty  to  use  all  the  means  for  success  which  are  recognized  by 
the  established  laws  of  war,  and  especially  to  use  freely  for  military  purposes 
every  man  on  the"!  soil  of  the  rebellious  States  who  is  willing  to  serve  us.  It 
is  silly  to  waste  our  resources  in  the  mere  parade  of  war  ;  we  can  arrive  at  no 
good  result  if  that  course  be  longer  pursued. 

Repeating  the  expression  of  my  regret  at  being  unable  to  assist  at  your 
patriotic  assemblage, 

I  am,  gentlemen, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

A.  G.  CURTIN. 


LETTER  OF  PRESTON  KING,  SENATOR  FROM  NEW-YORK. 

WASHINGTON,  July  llth,  1862. 
Messrs.  James  White,  Geo.  Opdyke,  and  others  : 

GENTLEMEN, — Your  invitation  to  me  to  address  a  mass  meeting  of  all  parties 
who  are  in  favor  of  supporting  the  Government,  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war 
and  suppressing  the  rebellion,  to  be  held  in  the  city  of  New- York,  on  Tuesday, 
the  15th  instant,  is  received.  My  whole  heart  is  in  the  cause  your  meeting  is 
called  to  promote,  and  I  wish  I  could  be  there,  but  public  engagements  here,  that 
I  cannot  put  aside,  prevent  my  attendance.  I  thank  you  for  the  invitation. 

Very  respectfully, 

PRESTON  KING. 

LETTER  OF  LOT  M.  MORRILL,  SENATOR  FROM  MAINE. 

SENATE  CHAMBER,  WASHINGTON,  July  \±th  1862. 
GENTLEMEN : 

Bv  your  favor  of  the  llth  instant,  I  am  informed  that,  "  at  a  Convention  of 
Commitees  severally  appointed  by  the  Common  Council  of  this  city  ;  by  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  State  of  New-York  ;  by  the  Union  Defence  Com- 
mittee •  and  by  bodies  of  loyal  citizens  of  this  city,  it  was  resolved  to  hold,  on 
Tuesday  the  15th  instant,  a  mass  meeting  of  all  parties  who  are  in  Favor  of  sup- 
portin«-  the  Government  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  suppressing  the  re- 
bellion and  to  express,  without  reference  to  any  party  question  whatever,  their 
undiminished  confidence  in  the  justice  of  the  cause,  and  their  inflexible  determi-' 
nation  to  sustain  it,  and  to  that  end  to  proffer  to  the  government  the.r  aid  to  the 
extent  of  all  their  resources;"  and  am  invited  to  be  present  "to  address  the 
meeting  upon  its  objects,  and  in  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  convened. 


100 

While  official  duties  here  compel  me  to  decline  the  invitation,  I  cannot  for- 
bear Ihe  expression,  in  a  brief  note,  of  my  unqualified  commendation  of  the  spirit 
and  purpose  of  such  a  resolution,  emanating  from  such  a  source.  In  this  hour  of 
peril,  the  country  will  hail  it  with  exultation  ;  its  lofty  purpose  and  sentiment  of 
patriotic  devotion,  will  reanimate  every  loyal  heart  throughout  the  land.  Assailed 
by  a  malignant  domestic  enemy,  and  menaced  by  "  the  malcontent  and  desperate  " 
everywhere,  the  Government  requires  from  all  its  friends,  what  you  generously 
tender — unconditional  and  unwavering  support,  "  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war  and 
suppressing  the  rebellion."  As  no  government  was  ever  so  beneficent,  so  liberal, 
so  just,  so  none  ever  had  such  claims  for  support.  Self-preservation,  the  dictates 
of  prudence,  the  promptings  of  humanity,  alike  demand  that  the  war  should  be 
conducted  with  terrible  energy — with  that  overmastering  vigor  which  comes  from 
the  united  efforts  of  a  great  people  intent  upon  the  vindication  of  the  right.  In 
this  great  national  trial,  reliance,  under  Providence,  is  upon  the  people.  They 
need  not  only  to  be  steadfast  in  their  confidence  of  the  justice  of  the  cause,  but 
united  in  its  maintenance.  May  a  generous  enthusiasm  for  country  animate  all 
hearts,  and  the  inspiration  of  a  common  purpose  enable  a  firm  and  united  people, 
with  the  pride  of  American  citizens,  to  assert  that,  in  spite  of  foes,  domestic  or 
foreign,  "  the  great  Republic  "  still  lives,  and  shall  survive  as  the  rich  legacy  of 
the  past  and  the  hope  of  the  future. 

Very  respecefully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

LOT  M.  MORRILL. 

Hon.  JAMES  W.  WHITE,  and  others,  Committee. 


LETTER  OF  CHARLES  SUMNER,  SENATOR  FROM  MASSACHU- 
SETTS. 

SENATE  CHAMBER,  WASHINGTON,  July  14th,  1862, 
DEAR  SIR  : 

I  welcome  and  honor  your  patriotic  efforts  to  arouse  the  country  to  a 
generous,  determined,  irresistible  unity  in  support  of  our  Government";  but 
the  Senate  is  still  in  session,  and  my  present  post  of  duty  is  here.  A  senator  cannot 
leave  his  post  more  than  a  soldier.  But,  absent  or  present,  the  cause  in  which 
the  people  are  to  assemble  has  my  God  speed — earnest,  devoted,  affectionate, 
from  the  heart.  What  I  can  do,  let  me  do.  There  is  no  work  which  1  will  not 
undertake,  there  ia  nothing  which  I  will  not  renounce,  if  so  I  may  serve  my 
country.  There  must  be  unity  of  hands  and  of  hearts,  too,  that  the  republic 
may  be  lifted  to  the  sublime  idea  of  a  true  commonwealth,  which,  we  are  told, 
"  ousht  to  be  as  one  huge  Christian  personage,  one  mighty  growth  and  stature  of 
an  honest  man,  as  big  and  compact  in  virtue  as  in  body."  Oh.  sir,  if  my  feeble 
voice  could  reach  my  fellow-countrymen  in  their  workshops,  in  the  streets,  in  the 
fields,  and  wherever  they  meet  together  ;  if  for  one  moment  I  could  take  to  my 
lips  the  silver  trumpet  whose  tones  should  sound  and  reverberate  throughout  the 
land,  I  would  summon  all,  forgetting  prejudice  and  turning  away  from  error,  to 
help  unite,  quicken  and  invigorate  our  common  country— most  beloved  now  that 
it  is  most  imperiled — to  a  compactness  and  bigness  of  virtue  in  just  proportion 
to  its  extended  dominion,  so  that  it  should  be  as  one  huge  Christian  personage, 
one  mighty  growth  and  stature  of  an  honest  man,  instinct  with  all  the  singleness 
of  unity.  Thus  inspired,  the  gates  of  hell  cannot  prevail  against  us.  To  this 
end  the  cries  of  faction  must  be  silenced,  and  the  wickedness  of  sedition,  whether 
"in  print  or  in  public  speech,  must  be  suppressed.  These  are  the  Northern 
allies  of  the  rebellion.  An  aroused  and  indignant  people,  with  iron  heel,  ought 
to  tread  them  out  forever,  as  men  tread  out  the  serpent,  so  that  it  can  neither 
hiss  nor  sting.  With  such  a  concord  God  will  be  pleased,  and  he  will  fight  for  us  ; 


101 

he  will  give  quickness  to  our  armies,  so  that  the  hosts  of  the  rebellion  will  be 
broken  and  scattered  as  by  the  thunderbolt ;  and  he  will  give  to  our  beneficent 
Government  that  blessed  inspiration,  better  than  any  newly  raised  levies,  by 
which  the  rebellion  shall  be  struck  in  its  single  vulnerable  part,  by  which  that 
colossal  abomination  which  was  its  orignal  mainspring  and  is  its  present  motive 
power  shall  be  overthrown  ;  and  by  which  the  cause  of  the  Union  shall  be  linked 
with  that  Divine  justice  whose  weapons  are  of  celestial  temper.  God  bless  our 
country !  and  God  bless  all  who  now  serve  it  with  singleness  of  heart ! 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  dear  sir, 
Your  faithful  servant, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 


LETTER  OF  M.  F.  ODELL,  REPRESENTATIVE  FROM  NEW- YORK. 

WASHINGTON,  July  I4tk,  1862. 
Charles  Gould,  Secretary,  and  otheis. 

GENTLEMEN, — I  am  in  receipt  of  your  invitation  to  attend  and  address  a  mass 
meeting  to  be  held  to-morrow,  the  loth  inst.,  in  New- York  city. 

It  would  be  my  pleasure  to  attend,  but  my  duties  here  will  prevent.  You 
propose  a  gathering  of  men  of  all  parties.  Never,  in  my  judgment,  since  the 
first  rebel  gun  was  fired,  have  there  been  reasons  so  strong  as  at  this  hour  when 
all  loyal  and  patriotic  men  should  combine  their  energies  to  crush  out,  and  put 
down  forever,  the  foes  of  the  Union.  Whatever  may  have  been  our  differences 
of  opinion  in  relation  to  measures  or  policy,  it  must  be  evident  to  all  good  men, 
that  this  country  can  be  saved  and  the  Union  maintained,  by  sustaining  the  gov- 
ernment in  its  efforts  to  put  down  this  rebellion.  I  have  no  doubt  as  to  the 
results  of  this  conflict.  Our  cause  is  just  and  right,  and  I  believe  there  is  a  de- 
termination deep  down  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  to  crush  out  this  monster ; 
hence  I  have  confidence  that  men  and  means  will  be  forthcoming  as  they  are 
needed.  I  believe  further,  that  it  will  be  done  with  no  compromises,  until  the 
last  rebel  shall  ground  his  arms. 

Yours,  truly, 

M.  F.  ODELL. 


LETTER  OF  EDWARD  HAIGHT,  REPRESENTATIVE  FROM 
NEW-YORK. 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  July  14th,  1862. 
Charles  Gould,  Esq.,  Sec'y  of  Select  Committee,  a'fid  otliers: 

GENTLEMEN, — I  am  just  in  receipt  of  your  invitation  to  attend  a  meeting  of 
loyal  citizens,  on  Tuesday  next,  and  only  regret  that  my  duties  here  will  prevent 
my  being  present  in  person.  I  most  heartily,  however,  accord  with  the  emphatic 
language  of  the  call,  and  have  no  doubt,  as  to  the  hearty  and  cheerful  response 
of  the  people  to  stop  the  life-blood' of  the  nation,  now  rapidly  flowing  away. 

The  destiny  and  restoration  of  the  Union  is  certain,  and  the  opportunity  to 
assist  in  its  consummation,  will  be  one,  (if  taken  advantage  of.)  that  will  redound 
to  the  honor  and  credit  of  the  participant  for  ages  yet  to  come. 

To  preserve  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  in  their  unity  and  integrity,  to 
vindicate  in  every  part  of  this  Republic,  one  and  indivisible,  its  supreme  law, 
should  be  the  paramount  object  of  every  loyal  citizen. 

Pledging  untiring  exertions  to  accomplish  that  end, 

I  am,  gentlemen,  very  truly,  yours, 

EDWARD  HAIGHT, 

M.  C.  9th  Cong.  Dist.,  N.  Y. 


102 

LETTER  OP  ALFEED  ELY,  REPRESENTATIVE  FROM  NEW-YORK. 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,      ) 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  Uth,  1862.  J 
Charles  Gould,  Esq.  : 

SIR, — I  duly  received  the  letter  addressed  to  me  on  the  llth  instant,  by  a  Com- 
mittee of  which  you  are  Secretary,  and  which  was  constituted  by  the  Common 
Council  of  New- York  city,  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  State  of  New- 
York,  by  the  Union  Defence  Committee,  and  by  bodies  of  loyal  citizens  of  New- 
York  city,  inviting  me  to  address,  to-morrow,  amass  meeting  in  your  city,  of  all 
parties  who  are  in  favor  of  supporting  the  Government  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
war,  and  suppressing  the  rebellion. 

I  regret  that  my  public  duties  will  not  allow  me  to  accept  this  invitation. 
Congress  is  just  upon  the  eve  of  an  adjournment,  and  the  transaction  of  the  im- 
portant business  still  before  it,  requires  that  a  quorum  of  its  members  should 
remain  here. 

It  would  give  me  the  greatest  pleasure  to  be  present  to  witness  such  an  out- 
pouring of  the  citizens  of  the  commercial  metropolis  of  the  nation  as  I  anticipate 
from  their  well-tried  and  unshaken  loyalty,  to  testify  "  their  undiminished  confi- 
dence in  the  justice  of  the  cause''  in  which  we  are  engaged,  and  "  their  inflexible 
determination  to  sustain  it."  Such  expressions  as  this  mass  meeting  is  designed 
to  give,  accompanied  by  the  "  proffer  to  the  Government,"  by  the  people  of  the 
city  of  New- York,  of  "  their  aid  to  the  extent  of  all  their  resources,"  will  be  of 
incalculable  benefit  to  the  country  at  home  and  abroad.  It  will  silence  faction 
among  ourselves,  and  demonstrate  to  European  powers  that  our  front  to  the 
enemy  is  still  solid  and  unbroken. 

Begging  you  to  accept  for  yourself  and  the  Committee,  and  for  their  several 
constituencies,  the  assurances  of  my  respect,  I  remain,  sir,  truly  yours, 

ALFRED  ELY. 


LETTER  OF  ROSCOE  CONKLING,  REPRESENTATIVE  FROM 
NEW-YORK. 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  ) 
WASHINGTON,  July  14th,  1862.      ( 

GENTLEMEN, — The  duties  resting  upon  a  Representative  in  the  closing  hours 
of  the  present  session,  require  me  to  be  constantly  in  my  seat.  AVere  I  at  liberty 
to  accept  the  invitation  with  which  you  have  honored  me,  it  would  give  me  great 
pleasure  to  address  a  mass  meeting  of  your  citizens  on  Tuesday  next. 

Although  debarred  the  privilege  of  participating  in  your  proceedings,  I  shall 
regard  them  with  an  interest  not  likely  ever  again  to  attach  to  any  similar  occa- 
sion. 

The  exigencies  and  demands  of  the  hour  give  to  public  action  at  this  moment 
an  importance  which  cannot  now  be  realized.  A  great  future  is  enshrouded  in  a 
little  period  immediately  before  us.  The  fate  of  our  country  depends  upon  the 
alacrity  of  its  citizens.  Your  great  metropolis  has  the  leading  part  in  the  sacri- 
fices, and  the  duties  which  await  us. 

The  imperial  position  of  our  State  never  shown  so  conspicuously  ;  her  resources 
and  munificence  have  never  been  so  indispensable  to  the  whole  nation,  as  since 
the  outbreak  of  the  present  rebellion.  The  position  New-York  shall  now  as- 
sume will  exert  a  commanding  influence  upon  the  final  issue  of  our  national  diffi- 
culties, and  the  action  of  the  meeting  on  Tuesday,  will  do  much  to  awaken  feel- 
ing throughout  the  State. 

Let  the  city  speak  in  emphatic  tones  in  favor  of  sparing  nothing  that  stands  in 
the  way  of  crushing  treason  at  home,  and  repelling  insolence  from  abroad.  The 
meeting  is  timely,  and  I  wish  it  complete  success. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  your  obedient  sen-ant, 

ROSCOE  CONKLING. 

Hon.  JAMES  W.  WHITE,  and  others,  Committee. 


103 

LETTER  OF  SCHUYLER  COLFAX,  REPRESENTATIVE  FROM 

INDIANA. 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,      ) 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  July  Utlt,  1862.  j 
MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

I  thank  you  for  the  honor  conferred  on  me  by  the  Committee  of  which  you  are 
Secretary,  inviting  me  to  address  the  meeting  of  the  loyal  citizens  of  my  native  city 
to-morrow,  and  assure  you  of  my  regret  that  public  duties  will  prevent  my  attend- 
ing. I  doubt  not  that  the  Empire  City  will  speak  on  that  occasion  in  a  manner 
and  with  an  emphasis  that  will  be  heard  and  heeded  throughout  the  entire  Re- 
public, as  well  as  beyond  the  Atlantic ;  and  that  will  prove  that  our  country, 
doubly  dear  to  us  now,  not  only  by  the  sacrifices  of  those  who  founded  it,  but  by 
the  more  recent  sacrifices  of  the  brave  soldiers  who  have  defended  it  against 
traitors,  is  dearer  to  us  all  in  its  hour  of  trial  than  in  its  brightest  era  of  peace 
and  prosperity. 

I  cannot  give  you  my  opinion  of  the  duty  of  this  eventful  hour  in  briefer  terms 
than  the  following  resolution,  which  I  had  the  honor  to  offer  at  a  largely  attended 
Congressional  caucus  last  Saturday  evening,  and  which  was  adopted  with  grati- 
fying unanimity  : 

"  Resolved,  That  we  hold  it  to  be  the  duty  of  all  loyal  men  to  stand  by  the 
Union  in  this  hour  of  its  trial — to  unite  their  hearts  and  hands  in  earnest  and 
patriotic  efforts  for  its  maintenance  against  those  who  are  in  arms  against  it— to 
sustain,  with  determined  resolution,  our  patriotic  President  and  his  administra- 
tion in  their  most  energetic  efforts  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war  and  the  preser- 
vation of  the  Union  against  enemies  at  home  and  abroad — to  punish  traitors  and 
treason  with  fitting  severity — and  to  so  crush  the  present  wicked  and  causeless 
rebellion  that  no  flag  of  disunion  shall  ever  again  be  raised  over  any  portion  of 
the  Republic.  That,  to  this  end,  we  invite  the  co-operation  of  all  men  who  love 
their  country  in  the  endeavor  to  rekindle  throughout  all  the  States  such  a  patriotic 
fire  as  shall  utterly  consume  all  who  strike  at  the  Union  of  our  Fathers,  and  all 
who  sympathize  with  their  treason  or  palliate  their  guilt."  • 

Very  truly,  yours,' 

SCHUYLER  COLFAX. 

CHAS.  GOULD,  Esq.,  Secretary,  fyc.,  fyc. 


LETTER  FROM  COMMODORE  ANDREW  H.  FOOTE. 

NEW  HAVEN,  July  l\th,  1862. 
MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

Your  kind  letter,  as  a  member  of  the  committee  on  invitations  and  speakers  at 
the  mass  meeting  to  be  held  in  New- York,  on  Tuesday  next,  for  the  purpose  of 
inciting  a  deeper  interest  in  the  public  mind  toward  the  prompt  supply  of  men 
and  means  for  crushing  this  atrocious  rebellion,  has  been  received. 

I  deeply  regret  that  an  imperative  sense  of  duty  to  the  Government,  as  well  ae 
to  myself,  prevents  my  complying  with  your  invitation  to  be  present  and  address 
the  citizens  of  the  great  metropolis  on  such  a  momentous  occasion.  Still  suffer- 
ing from  the  effects  of  my  wound  received  at  Fort  Donelson,  although  rapidly 
improving  in  health,  my  physicians  have  enjoined  upon  me  the  necessity  of 
repose  of  mind  and  body  for  the  present,  as  essential  in  enabling  me  to  return  at 
an  early  day  to  active  service  in  the  war. 

We  owe  it  to  our  honor  as  a  nation,  to  our  children  and  posterity,  to  transmit 
to  them,  if  needs  be  with  our  blood  and  treasure,  the  preservation  of  the  most 
free  and  beneficent  government  ever  established  upon  the  earth.  Shall  the 
North,  with  her  twenty  millions  and  untold  resources,  pusillanimously  yield  to 
six  millions  of  miserable  rebels  in  arms  ?  No  !  death  itself  would  be  preferable 


104 

to  men  who  have  any  claim  to  manhood.  Let  every  citizen,  then,  rush  to  the 
field,  or  furnish  a  substitute,  to  enable  the  heroic  and  accomplished  leader  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  who  is  now  awaiting  reinforcements  only,  to  strike  the 
final  blow  in  crushing  forever  this  atrocious  rebellion. 

Let  the  ladies  of  New- York  continue  to  give  their  support  to  this  glorious 
cause.  They  are  all  potent  in  persuasive  influence  ;  but  in  instances  where  this 
fails,  let  them  decline — spurn — the  attentions  of  all  young  men  who  remain  at 
home  when  they  might  be  in  the  fight  vindicating  the  honor  of  our  flag,  until 
these  young  men  shall  present  themselves  as  having  done  their  part  on  the 
battle-field  toward  transmitting  the  rich  legacy  of  such  a  Government  as  the  indo- 
mitable courage  of  the  fathers  of  our  republic  have  bequeathed  to  their  children. 

Let  the  North  but  appreciate  the  crisis,  and  trusting  in  the  God  of  battles,  we 
will  hurl  defiance  at  our  enemies,  internal  and  external. 

I  am,  respectfully,  and  very  truly,  yours, 

ANDREW  H.  FOOTE. 

CHAS.  GOULD,  Esq.,  New- York. 

LETTER  OF  GEN.  LEWIS  WALLACE. 

POUGHKEEPSIE,  N.  Y.,  July  Vith,  1862. 
Chas.  Gould,  Esq.,  Secretary,  etc. 

DEAR  SIR, — -The  note  from  the  Select  Committee  inviting  me  to  address  the 
meeting  in  your  city  on  the  15th  instant,  has  just  reached  me. 
I  regret  it  did  not  come  in  time  to  enable  me  to  comply. 
The  army  needs  recruitment  badly,  and  I  am  greatly  pleased  at  the  manner  it 
is  taken  hold  of  in  New- York. 

Be  kind  enough  to  inform  the  committee  why  their  favor  was  not  sooner  an- 
swered. Very  respectfully,  sir, 

Your  friend  and  servant, 

LEWIS  WALLACE. 


LETTER  OF  A.  D.  BACHE,  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  UNITED 
STATES  COAST  SURVEY. 

COAST  SURVEY  OFFICE,  ) 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  14th,  1862.  f 
GENTLEMEN-  : 

I  thank  you  cordially  for  the  opportunity  you  give  me  of  being  present  at  the 
meeting  of  "  loyal  citizens,"  on  Tuesday,  the  15th  instant.  Every  one  of  your 
watchwords  touch  the  very  depths  of  my  heart.  No  party,  but  the  whole 
country.  A  union  of  all  for  the  support  of  the  Government  in  an  energetic 
prosecution  of  the  war  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion.  Undiminished 
confidence  in  the  justice  of  the  cause.  Inflexible  determination  to  sustain  it. 
Aid  to  the  Government  to  the  extent  of  all  resources  of  mind,  body  and  estate. 
How  must  such  words  stir  the  souls  of  all  loyal  citizens  !  How  much  I  regret 
that  I  may  not,  consistently  with  pressing  duties,  enjoy  the  enthusiasm  of  this 
mass  meeting. 

The  corps  to  which  I  belong  is  dispersed  among  the  army  and  navy  expe- 
ditions in  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina,  Florida  and  Louisiana,  lending 
the  aid  of  their  minute  local  knowledge  freely  to  the  army  and  navy  expeditions. 
After  this  service  they  will  be  ready  to  continue  maps  of  the  coast  and  to  con- 
tribute personal  information  which  will  be  useful  in  case  of  intervention,  as  that 
already  contributed  has  been  against  rebellion.  All  these  men  would  be  de- 
lighted to  be  counted  as  particles  in  the  mass  meeting  of  loyal  citizens.  All  unite 
with  me  in  three  times  three  cheers  for  the  watchwords  of  your  committee. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

A.  D.  BACHE. 

JAMES  W.  WHITE,  GEORGE  OPDVKE,  SAMUEL  SLOAN.  PROSPER   M.  WETMORE, 
DEXNTNU  DUER.  CHARLES  GOITLD.  Select  Committee. 


105 

LETTER  FROM  REV.  II.  W.  BELLOWS,  PRESIDENT  OF  SAN- 
ITARY COMMISSION. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  12th,  1862. 
/.  W.  White,  Geo.  Opdyke.  fa 

GENTLEMEN-, — I  regret  that  my  previous  engagements,  which  carry  me  to 
another  section  of  our  troubled  country,  will  not  permit  me  to  accept  your  invi- 
tation to  address  the  people  of  Xew-York  at  the  mass  meeting  of  loyal  citizens 
on  the  15th  instant.  I  should  rejoice  to  participate  in  that  important  meeting. 
The  masses  are  tlie  great  constituents  of  those  who  are  waging  this  defence  of 
democratic  institutions  against  the  assaults  of  the  proudest  aristocracy  in  the 
world.  It  is  not  slavery,  but  the  aristocratic  spirit  of  feudalism,  which  simply 
finds  its  accidental  expression  in  negro  slavery,  which  is  now  making  its  last  and 
most  bloody  struggle  (in  modern  history)  in  this  civil  war.  We  are  fighting  the 
poor  man's,  the  working-man's,  the  foreign  emigrant's,  the  mechanic's,  ihe  clerk's 
battle.  Their  last  battle  for  political  and  social  equality.  Feudalism  on  the  other 
side  of  the  water,  in  all  her  various  shapes — French,  English,  and  Austrian — hates 
our  prospect  of  success,  and  loves  every  rebel  who  strikes  us  with  bullet  or  bayonet, 
as  if  he  were  in  her  own  employ.  But,  if  we  have  the  aristocrats  of  the  whole 
world  against  us.  we  have  the  people  of  the  whole  world  with  us  !  We  are  fight- 
ing against  thrones  and  principalities  and  powers — fighting  for  equal  rights,  the 
poor  man's  liberties,  the  dignity  of  labor,  and  the  principle  of  self-government. 
We  are  fighting  for  the  gospel  of  Christ,  in  its  political  expression,  against  the 
religions  of  caste  and  the  hierarchies  of  birth  and  blood.  When  the  people  know 
this,  every  man  will  drop  his  quill,  his  last,  his  spade,  his  hammer  his  hod,  his 
ledger,  his  comfort,  his  party  prejudices,  his  home  and  his  fortune,  to  enlist! 
That  is  the  thing  to  do,  and  to  do  at  once.  It  is  the  only  practical  proof  of 
patriotism  that  ought  to  be  accepted  from  an  able-bodied  man,  between  twenty 
and  forty,  at  this  crisis  of  liberty  and  democratic  existence. 

Yours,  with  utmost  sympathy, 

H.  W.  BELLOWS. 


LETTER  OF  EDWARD  EVERETT. 

BOSTON,  14th  July,  1862. 
Charles  Gould,  Esq.  : 

DEAR  SIR, — I  received,  a  moment  since,  a  copy  of  your  circular  of  the  llth, 
inviting  me  to  attend  a  mass  meeting  of  loyal  citizens,  of  all  parties,  in  New-York, 
to-morrow.  It  would  give  me  great  pleasure,  if  it  were  in  my  power,  to  take  part 
in  a  meeting,  called  in  the  great  Metropolis  of  the  Union,  for  the  patriotic  pur- 
poses indicated  in  the  circular  ;  but  my  official  duty  as  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Overseers  of  Harvard  College,  requires  me  to  be  at  Cambridge  on  Commence- 
ment day, the  1 6th. 

New-York  needa  no  voice  from  abroad  to  cheer  her  in  the  path  of  duty,  at  this 
momentous  crisis. 

I  remain,  dear  sir  very  respectfully,  yours, 

EDWARD  EVERETT. 


LETTER  OF  JOHN  A  KING. 

JAMAICA,  L.  I.,  Jidij  14th,  1862. 

Charles  Goidd,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  Committee  of  Loyal  Citizens: 

DEAR  SIR, I  beg  to  acknowledge  and  thank  you  for  the  invitation  to  address 

the  meetinf  of  loyal  citizens,  to-morrow  afternoon,  in  the  city  of  New- York.  Con- 
curring fully  in  the  patriotic  object  and  purposes  of  the  meeting,  I  hope  to  be 
present  on  the  occasion,  but  must  ask  to  be  excused  from  taking  an  active  part 
in  the  proceedings  of  the  meeting. 

With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  A.  KING. 

14 


106 

LETTER  OF  LYMAN  TREMAIN. 

ALBANY,  July  1M,  1862. 
GENT.  : 

I  am  in  receipt  of  your  invitation  to  address  the  mass  meeting  to  be  held  on 
the  15th  instant. 

Tt  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  learn  that  such  a  meeting  is  called.  I  trust  it 
will  be  worthy  of  the  great  city  where  it  will  be  held,  worthy  of  the  occasion,  and 
of  the  noble  cause  in  whose  service  it  will  be  convened. 

I  regret  to  say  that  an  engagement  to  address  a  similar  meeting  in  this  city, 
the  same  evening,  will  put  it  beyond  my  power  to  attend. 

Yours  truly, 

LYMAN  TREMAIN. 
CHAS.  GOULD,  Esq  ,  Sec.  tyc. 


LETTER  OF  WM.  M.  EVARTS. 

WINDSOR,  VT.,  July  I5tk,  1862. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

The  invitation  of  your  committee  to  address  the  great  meeting,  to  be  held  to- 
day, in  the  city  of  New-York,  reached  me  too  late  for  this  answer,  even,  to  be  in 
time  for  the  occasion. 

The  enthusiastic  rally  at  Union  Square,  on  the  twentieth  of  April  of  last  year, 
demonstrated  the  wisdom  and  courage  of  our  people  in  instantly  meeting  the 
war,  which  had  been  opened  against  the  Government  by  the  armed  rebellion, 
with  all  the  strength  and  energy  which  thorough  and  united  purpose  and  abun- 
dant material  resources  could  supply.  From  that  moment  the  people  have 
taken  no  step  backward,  and  there  has  been  more  occasion  for  solicitude  that 
they  would  run  over  the  Government  than  that  they  would  not  keep  up 
with  its  movements  and  demands.  I  have  no  fears  now,  that  the  response  of  the 
people  to  the  new  call  for  troops,  will  be  either  sluggish  or  inadequate. 

Whether  in  the  past,  the  Government  has  fully  understood  the  stern  simplicity 
of  this  contest  —  to  which  only  two  issues,  the  destruction  of  its  enemy  or  of  itself, 
were  ever  possible  ;  whether  it  has  recognized  its  true  enemy  —  the  rebel  aristo- 
cracy —  and  appreciated  the  depth  and  force  of  the  passions  and  interests  which 
have  stimulated  their  hatred  and  support  their  hostilities  ;  whether  it  has  wisely 
and  effectively  employed  the  immense  power  which  the  devotion  of  the  people 
has  laid  at  its  feet  ;  —  these  are  questions  unsuited  to  the  situation  of  our  affairs. 
"  Forgetting  the  things  that  are  behind."  we  "  must  press  forward,"  and  be  satisfied 
with  knowing  and  insisting  that,  in  the  future,  the  sentiments  and  action  of  the 
Government  will  be,  and  shall  be,  clear,  decisive  and  concentrated  ;  seeking,  what 
thus  seeking  it  is  sure  to  accomplish,  the  rapid  and  complete  reduction,  by 
military  power,  of  the  revolted  territory  and  population  to  allegiance  to  their  and 
our  Constitution. 

I  know  that  there  are  loyal,  intelligent  and  earnest  lovers  of  their  country, 
who  conceive  that  they  have  no  part  or  heart  in  this  war,  if  it  be  not  so  directed 
that  the  social  institution  of  slavery  shall  not  survive  it,  and  others  who  imagine 
that  they  will  not  help  put  down  the  rebellion  if  slavery  is  to  fall  with  it.  But 
these  opinions  govern  no  considerable  number  of  the  loyal  population  ;  and,  indeed, 
if  those  who  profess  the  one  or  the  other  of  them,  were  put  to  the  test,  1  am 
persuaded  that  the  Flag  and  the  Constitution  would  lose  few  of  them  as 
defenders. 

And  now  it  is  proclaimed,  as  with  a  trumpet,  throughout  the  land,  to  rebels 
and  to  loyal  men  alike,  that  the  burden  and  the  heat  of  the  war  are  upon  us  ; 
that  our  manhood  and  our  birthright  are  in  the  issue  ;  and  that  the  suu  which 


107 

sets  upon  this  day  of  our  trial,  will  look  upon  us  a  proud,  a  happy,  a  free,  a  pow- 
erful nation,  or  a  rent,  distracted,  crushed,  despised  people. 

How  foolish  and  feeble  a  conception  of  the  fates  that  this  war  carries,  have 
they,  who  regard  it  as  a  contest  involving,  only,  tlie  extent  of  territory  and  of 
population  which  our  Government  shall  maintain  dominion  over.  A  mutilated 
territory  and  a  dismembered  people  are  results  sufficiently  intolerable  to  our 
pride  and  our  interests.  But  the  disastrous  event  of  this  war  stops  at  no 
such  measure  of  calamity.  The  Federal  Constitution  itself  will  have  been  rent 
in  twain,  and  the  fabric  of  our  National  liberties  will  have  passed  away  as  a 
scroll.  The  noble  heritage  which  the  wisdom  and  courage  of  heroic  ancestors 
gained  for  us  will  have  been  wrested  from  our  feeble  and  faithless  hands.  For 
this,  our  self-abasement,  there  will  be  "no  cure,  no  after-health,  no  pardon." 

I  believe  that  the  people  understand  this  momentous  issue,  and  that  their 
hearts  thrill  with  the  intensity  of  the  emotions  its  contemplation  begets.  Have 
we,  by  Divine  favor,  the  power  to  avert  this  ruin  and  maintain  the  life  of  the 
Nation  ?  This  power  can  be  none  other  than  military  and  financial  resources, 
and  the  wisdom  and  courage  to  apply  them. 

The  mass  of  the  population  supporting  the  Government,  and  counting  as  the 
supply  of  its  military  and  financial  strength,  numbers  about  twenty-three  mil- 
lions, of  which  something  like  a  million  are  slaves.  The  mass  of  the  population 
arrayed  in  revolt  is  over  eight  millions,  of  which  three  millions  are  slaves.  We 
thus  stand  four  to  one  of  the  free  population  of  the  country,  for  the  Govern- 
ment. Are  these  five  millions  of  free  whites,  mounted  on  the  shoulders  of  three 
million  black  slaves,  able  to  predominate  over  our  twenty  millions  of  free  whites, 
in  battle  and  in  war,  as  they  have  done  in  politics  and  in  peace  ?  If  they  are, 
they  had  better  be  dismounted. 

But  the  question  carries  its  own  answer.  If,  on  our  part,  the  battles  are  still 
political,  and  the  war  peaceful,  this  treason  will  overthrow  our  Government.  If 
we  are  to  save  the  lives,  the  property,  the  feelings  and  the  pride  of  the  rebels, 
and  waste  only  the  lives,  the  courage  and  the  strength  of  the  loyal  people,  we 
are  the  allies  of  the  rebels,  not  their  enemies,  and  undermine,  from  within,  the 
citadel,  which  they  assault  from  without. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  will  dismiss  politics  and  peace  from  our  minds  and 
from  our  hearts  ;  if  our  advancing  armies  shall  treat  the  population  in  revolt, 
whether  black  or  white,  slave  or  free,  as  war  groups  them — as  rebel  or  as  loyal,  as 
hostile  or  as  submissive  ;  if  the  Government  will  execute  the  simple  policy,  "  par- 
cere  subjectis,  debellare  superbos," — root  out  the  haughty  aristocracy  that  urges  on 
the  rebellion,  and  spare  the  abject  followers  it  has  cheated  and  forced  into  its 
support,  "  the  hand  of  the  Government  will  be  in  the  neck  of  its  enemies."  We 
shall  see  this  treason  crouch  and  cower  under  the  thunderbolts  of  war,  and  the 
leaders  of  the  revolt  strangled  in  the  cruel  rage  with  which  the  terrified  and  suf- 
fering masses  will  seek  for  victims,  to  save  themselves  and  make  peace  with  the 
Government. 

Thus  far  the  weakness  of  our  sentiments  has  been  the  strength  of  the  rebel- 
lion. The  battles  of  the  Peninsula — so  glorious  to  our  soldiery — have  made 
any  further  feebleness  of  purpose,  or  random  aim,  impossible,  but  at  the  cost  of 
the  nation's  life.  The  Government  and  the  people  are  now  thoroughly  aroused, 
thoroughly  informed.  Our  rulers  will  lead,  and  we  shall  follow,  fast  and  far. 
Everything  is  full  of  courage  and  strength,  and  the  tide  of  WAR  will  never  ebb 
till  we  are,  a°tiin,  one  people,  with  one  Constitution  and  one  destiny. 

I  canno't  be  at  your  meeting,  but  in  the  earnest  and  patriotic  activity  which 
will  there  receive  new  impulse,  I  shall  give  every  aid  of  time,  of  money,  and  of 
labor  which  shall  be  in  my  power. 

I  am,  with  great  respect  to  yourself  and  the  Committee, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

WM.  M.  EVABTS. 

To  CHAS.  GOULD,  Esq.,  Secretary,  $c. 


108 

LETTER  OF  JAMES  T.  BRADY. 

NEW-YORK,  July  15th,  1862. 
Hon.  George  Opkyke: 

DEAR  SIR. — I  regret  that  I  will  not  be  able  to  address  my  fellow-citizens  at  the 
Union  Meeting  called  for  this  afternoon,  being  troubled  with  an  affection  of  the 
throat,  which  prevents  my  making  such  an  eifort  as  would  be  required  to  speak 
before  a  large  assemblage,  in  the  open  air. 

I  am  sorry  that  some  of  our  countrymen  are  so  prone  to  despond  or  complain, 
because  we  do  not  triumph  in  every  encounter  with  our  opponents,  and  that  the 
appreciation  of  great  victories  in  the  past,  is  lost  in  mourning  over  the  discom- 
fitures of  the  hour. 

It  is  quite  likely  that  errors  have  been  committed  in  the  conduct  of  the  present 
war.  By  whom,  when,  and  how,  will  all  be  certainly  made  known  hereafter.  We 
have  no  time  now  for  lamentations  or  complaints.  The  whole  of  our  thoughts  and 
efforts  should  be  applied  in  vigorously  devoting  the  power  of  the  present,  so  as  to 
secure  prosperity  in  the  future.  We  are  engaged  in  a  war  with  men  who  display  a 
fierce  resolution  to  overcome  us  by  force  of  arms.  If  we  do  not  defeat  them,  they 
will  defeat  us.  Our  course  is,  therefore,  very  plain.  We  should  cheerfully  and  ener- 
getically sustain  the  Government  in  putting  down  the  rebellion,  and  restoring  our 
national  authority.  For  this  purpose  more  men  are  required.  They  must  and 
will  be  furnished.  No  fear  of  consequences,  such  as  might  offend  our  political 
opinions,  should  for  one  moment  obstruct  this  exhibition  of  loyalty.  We  did  not 
invite  nor  begin  the  war.  We  sought  to  prevent  a  calamity  so  dire  It  is  the 
work  of  ambitious  and  bad  leaders  at  the  South,  whose  defeat  and  disgrace  will 
surely  come.  When  we  succeed,  as  we  ultimately  shall,  then,  and  not  before, 
will  be  the  time  to  decide  upon  all  the  grave  political  questions  which  may  arise 
out  of  the  conflict  now  progressing,  or  the  cause  which  produced  it.  The  su- 
premacy of  our  laws  is  indispensable  to  ensure  a  full  and  free  discussion  of  those 
questions  at  the  South.  It  is  quite  obvious  that  we  must  have  more  troops,  not 
only  to  meet  the  present  exigencies,  but  also  to  provide  for  those  which  may 
hereafter  arise.  It  is  well  to  prepare  for  foreign  intervention,  although  I  see 
little  cause  for  apprehending  such  an  occurrence.  France  is  not  in  a  condition 
to  neglect  her  own  affairs,  and  attend  to  ours.  England  has  not  for  many  years 
shown  much  eagerness  to  engage  in  hostilities  with  a  formidable  power.  I  am 
loth  to  believe  that  any  large  number  of  the  English  people  will  be  found  as  ma- 
lignant, false,  or  vacillating  as  the  London  Times.  Jf  intervention  by  a  foreign 
government  is  ever  to  happen,  I  wish  it  would  occur  now,  while  our  people  have 
their  military  spirit  aroused.  Such  a  wicked  assault  upon  us  would  call  into  the 
field  every  man  on  our  soil  who  was  capable  of  bearing  arms.  And  it  is  not 
likely  that  if  France,  for  the  first  time,  appeared  as  our  enemy,  in  a  foul  alliance 
with  Britain,  the  continent  would  look  on  with  entire  indifference,  and  furnish  us 
no  aid  against  ancient  enemies.  Let  us  have  an  army  under  whose  protection  we 
can  safely  and  decently  announce,  that  while  we  seek  no  quarrel  with  any  nation, 
neither  will  we  avoid  one,  when  to  do  so  would,  in  the  slightest  degree,  impair  our 
strength,  prosperity,  or  honor. 

For  my  own  part,  I  have  confidence  in  the  intelligence,  patriotism  and  judg- 
ment of  the  President  and  his  cabinet,  although  in  saying  this  I  do  not  mean  to 
assert  that  the  course  adopted  by  him  or  them  has,  in  every  instance,  been  the 
wisest  or  best  for  the  occasion.  I  have  confidence  in  General  McCIellan.  I 
know  that,  however  foes  or  slanderers  may  assail  him,  he  has,  and  will  have,  to 
sustain  him  in  every  event,  the  gratitude,  admiration,  and  love  of  the  masses. 
Time  will  confirm  this  statement,  if  there  be  now  one  reason  to  discredit  it. 

I  have  no  doubt,  whatever,  that  we  are  to  win  the  fight  in  which  we  are  engaged. 
It  may  be  protracted  :  it  may  involve  unparalleled  outlay  of  treasure,  loss  of  life, 
and  suffering.  But,  dreadful  as  these  consequences  are,  we  must  encounter  them 
all  to  preserve  the  republic,  keep  unsullied  the  honor  of  our  flag,  and  prevent  the 
coming  of  a  time  when  it  may  truly  be  said  that  there  is  no  such  power  on  earth 
as  "  The  United  States  of  America/' 


109 

We  are  solving  the  great  problem  whether  a  free  government,  founded  on  th« 
free  action  of  the  people,  can  be  permanently  maintained.  In  the  solution  of  that 
question,  it  is  not  alone  the  American  people,  or  this  generation,  that  is  interested. 
It  deeply  concerns  the  whole  world.  It  is  to  affect  the  happiness  of  races  and 
generations  to  come.  That  is  one  reason  why  the  natives  of  so  many  lands  nobly 
unite  with  the  American,  in  the  struggle  for  our  success.  Let  all  who  feel  a 
desire  that  we  should  triumph,  forget  everything  else  in  the  enthusiastic  en- 
deavor to  make  that  triumph  certain. 

Tours,  truly, 

JAMES  T.  BEADY. 


LETTER  OF  EIOHARD   BUSTEED,  ESQ. 

NEW-YOKK,  July  12th,  1862,  [ 
237  BROADWAY,      j 

Hon.  James  W.  White,  Geo.  Opdyke,  Samuel  Sloan,  Prosper  M.  Wetmore,  Denning 
Duer,  Charles  Gould,  Select  Committee,  fyc.  : 

GENTLEMEN, — I  regret  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  accept  your  invitation  to  ad- 
dress the  mass  meeting  to  be  held  in  this  city  on  the  15th  inst.  Circumstances 
wholly  beyond  my  control,  will  prevent  me  the  pleasure  I  would  derive  from 
being  present  to  swell  the  chorus  of  patriotism  which  on  that  day  will  arise  from 
the  great  heart  of  loyal  New- York,  in  support  of  the  Government,  and  in  unmis- 
takable rebuke  of  treason  and  traitors  at  home,  and  maligners  and  meddlers 
abroad. 

Be  assured,  gentlemen,  of  my  entire  sympathy  in  the  movement.  I  regard  it 
as  a  step  in  the  right  direction,  and  rejoice  that  there  is  among  our  people,  an 
"inflexible  determination  to  sustain"  the  Government,  without  reference  to 
mere  political  views,  and  looking  only  to  the  re-establishment  of  its  power  over 
every  acre  of  its  soil,  and  every  one  of  its  subjects. 

The  time  is  when  party  must  be  lost  sight  of  in  the  higher  claims  of  duty  and 
fealty  to  country.  Who  falters  now  in  these,  let  him  henceforward  be  distrusted, 
let  his  name  be  a  byword  and  a  scorn,  let  him  live  in  shame  and  die  in  dishonor. 
Let  it  be  understood  and  declared  that, 

"  Freedom's  soil  has  only  place 
For  a  free  and  fearless  race ; 
None  for  traitors  false  and  base." 

In  this  terrible  struggle  for  life,  we  must  not  fail.  Our  shortcoming  would 
justly  be  accounted  treason  to  the  race,  and  impiety  to  God.  We  cannot  fail 
but  by  being  false  to  the  commonest  instincts  of  honor  and  pride.  Let  no  true 
man  carp  now.  No  real  patriot  will  retard  the  success  of  our  cause  either  by 
personal  supineness,  or  by  indulging  in  criticisms  upon  the  Government,  which 
have  the  effect  of  antagonisms.  Let  it  be  left  to  our  enemies  to  cavil,  while  we 
bear  proudly  aloft,  and  hold  up  to  the  wistful  gaze  of  the  world,  the  standard  of 
Constitutional  Freedom,  symbolized  .by  an  unimpaired  American  nationality. 

With  great  respect, 

Your  fellow-citizen, 

RICHARD  BUSTEED. 


110 

LETTER  OF  REV.  J.  P.  THOMPSON. 

No.  32  WEST  THIRTY-SIXTH  STREKT,          ) 
July  Uth,  4  P.  M.,  1862.      [ 

DEAR  SIR  : 

The  invitation  of  the  Select  Committee  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  to  ad" 
dress  the  mass  meeting  at  Union  Square,  to-morrow,  has  just  come  to  hand- 
Most  gladly  would  I  contribute  in  any  way  to  the  object  of  that  meeting — the 
support  of  the  Government  in  suppressing  the  rebellion — an  object  to  which  I 
am  ready  to  devote  time,  means,  labor,  children,  whatever  I  possess  or  can  in- 
fluence for  so  great  a  cause.  All  that  is  dear  to  us  for  ourselves  and  our  chil- 
dren, all  that  is  dear  to  us  as  friends  of  freedom  and  of  humanity,  all  that  is  dear 
to  us  as  Christians,  seeking  to  establish  and  to  perfect  upon  this  western  conti- 
nent a  civilization  founded  upon  public  virtue  and  equity,  the  fear  of  God  and 
the  rights  of  man  ;  all  of  value  from  the  past,  of  good  in  the  present,  of  hope  for 
the  future — demands  that  this  atrocious  rebellion  be  subdued,  and  its  more 
atrocious  cause  be  utterly  exterminated. 

Yours  truly, 

JOS.  P.  THOMPSON. 

CHAS.  GOULD,  Esq. 


LETTER  OF  GEORGE  GIBBS,  OF  WASHINGTON  TERRITORY. 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  July  13th,  1862. 
SIR: 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  invitation  to  address  the 
mass  meeting  of  loyal  citizens  in  Union  Square,  New-York,  on  15th  inst.  I  re- 
gret that  official  business  prevents  my  accepting  the  call.  Let  me  assure  you, 
however,  that  though  no  one  may  officially  represent  the  Territory  of  Washington 
at  the  contemplated  meeting,  I  can  answer  for  the  truth  and  fidelity  of  her  people 
to  the  Union,  without  question  and  without  qualification. 

I  am  sir,  very  truly, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

GEORGE  GIBBS. 
CHARLES  GOULD,  Esq.,  Secretary. 


OPINIONS  OF  THE  PRESS. 


[From  the  New-York  World,  July  16th.] 

The  grand  demonstration  at  Union  Square,  yesterday  afternoon,  was  a 
gathering  in  every  way  worthy  of  the  great  cause  that  had  called  it  forth.  An 
hour  previous  to  the  time  named  for  the  meeting:,  the  Park  was  crowded  with 
men  and  women  anxious  to  secure  eligible  positions,  where  they  could  sit  in 
the  shade  and  listen  to  the  music  for  the  Union. 

From  the  hotels  and  housetops,  and  from  the  churches,  the  stars  and  stripes 
were  displayed  with  the  utmost  profusion.  The  windows  looking  from  the 
residences  upon  all  sides  of  the  Square  were  thrown  up,  and  the  balconies  front- 
ing them  filled  with  ladies  and  children,  whose  presence  served  greatly  to  add 
to  the  animation  of  the  scene  below.  Broadway  and  the  other  thoroughfares 
leading  to  the  Square  were  thronged  with  the  multitudes  who  had  closed  their 
stores  and  workshops  to  attend  the  meeting.  Every  class  and  trade  were  repre- 
sented. The  wealthy  millionaire,  who  had  left  the  luxuries  of  a  well-filled  table 
and  dashed  up  in  a  splendid  equipage,  had  come  prepared  to  counsel  with  the 
hard-fisted  laborer  who  had  left  mattock  and  spade,  crow-bar  and  barrow,  to  de- 
vise means  for  maintaining  the  Union  ;  and  the  voices  of  both  were  unanimous 
that  "  it  must  and  shall  be  preserved." 

The  stands  were  ranged  in  numerical  order,  beginning  with  No.  1,  at  the 
monument,  passing  round  the  Square  in  a  north-westerly  direction,  and  terminat- 
ing with  No.  5.  They  were  substantial  structures,  and  beautifully  draped  witli 
bunting,  the  stars  and  stripes  being  conspicuous  over  all.  Around  these  the  crowd 
began  to  assemble  at  half-past  three  o'clock  ;  and  from  that  moment  the  num- 
bers increased  until  the  hour  of  adjournment.  The  utmost  enthusiasm  prevailed 
upon  all  sides.  Bands  of  music  were  playing  at  intervals,  and  Anthon's  Light 
Battery  boomed  forth  a  welcome  to  the  coming  thousands  who  were  marshaling 
from  town  and  country  in  a  common  cause.  As  the  gathering  grew  more  dense, 
the  cars  on  the  Fourth  Avenue  Railroad  ceased  running — it  being  impossible  for 
them  to  get  through.  The  Broadway  stages  ran  off  their  line  also,  the  entire 
space  occupied  by  the  Square  being  given  up  unreservedly  to  the  purposes  of  the 
meeting.  Prominent  in  the  assemblage  were  the  veterans  of  the  war  of  1812,  in 
uniform,  their  swords  buckled  on  as  if  ready  for  another  contest,  and  their  voices 
urging  the  young  men  everywhere  to  enlist. 

At  four  o'clock  the  workingmen  from  the  lower  wards  came  up  en  masse,  and 
shortly  afterward  the  ''jackets  of  blue  "  from  the  Navy  Yard  made  their  appear- 
ance ;  also  the  ship-carpenters  at  work  on  the  Union  gun-boats,  the  workmen 
from '  Singer's  sewing-machine  manufactory,  and  those  employed  by  Henry 
Brewster  &  Co. ;  these  latter  assisting  to  work  the  Anthon  Battery. 

The  New  England  Soldiers'  Relief  Association  had  two  huge  wagons,  one 
drawn  by  eight  horses  and  the  other  by  four  horses,  covered  with  flags,  both 
laden  with  patriotic  hearts,  anxious  with  the  rest  to  help  on  the  great  cause  of 
crushing  the  rebellion. 

It  was  a  mass  meeting  in  every  sense  of  the  word.  The  presence  of  100,000 
men  stamped  it  as  earnest,  and  likely  to  be  productive  of  untold  results.  It  was 
a  mass  meetin"1  in  point  of  numbers,  of  wealth,  of  class,  of  respectability,  arid, 
above  all  of  loyalty  and  devotion  to  the  grand  old  Union.  Even  the  boys  in  the 


112 

street  paraded  in  uniform,  waving  the  American  flag,  and  cheering  the  patriotic 
utterances  of  their  elders.  Looking  from  the  several  stands,  the  eye  encountered 
a  sea  of  faces  not  commonly  met  at  great  gatherings.  There  was  an  almost  utter 
absence  of  levity  and  disorder.  Every  countenance  said  plainly  that  its  owner 
had  come  there  with  an  earnest  purpose  ;  that  the  time  for  trifling  had  passed  ; 
that  the  great  crisis  was  at  hand  ;  and,  by  the  help  of  God  and  their  own  right 
arms,  that  they  meant  to  meet  the  issue  as  became  American  freemen,  worthy  to 
preserve  the  liberties  transmitted  them  by  their  fathers. 


\From  the  Evening  Post,  July  16£/t.J 

If  the  great  meeting  of  April,  1861,  was  more  numerous  and  enthusiastic  than 
that  of  yesterday,  it  was  because  the  nation  then  felt  the  first  glow  of  its 
patriotic  ardor.  But,  with  the  exception  of  that  grand  outbreak,  no  meeting 
ever  held  in  the  city  has  surpassed  the  one  of  yesterday  in  grandeur  and  life.  A 
sea  of  men  and  women  filled  the  vast  spaces  around  Union  Square,  so  that 
streets,  sidewalks,  balconies  and  windows  were  filled,  while  the  proceedings  were 
marked  throughout  by  the  utmost  animation.  In  the  eloquent  speeches  of 
General  Walbridge,  Judge  Daly,  Dr.  Hitchcock,  Mr.  Coddington,  Delafield  Smith, 
and  others,  there  was  a  noble  utterance  of  the  grand  pervading  sentiment  of  the 
occasion. 

We  have  given  elsewhere  such  reports  of  the  speeches  and  doings  as  our 
space  admits,  and  we  design  in  this  column  merely  to  record  impressions 
produced  upon  us  by  a  careful  observation  of  the  masses  assembled.  The  war 
impulse  is  apparently  as  vigorous  and  determined  as  it  ever  was  ;  the  devotion  of 
the  people  to  the  Union  is  as  strong  ;  but  this  patriotic  zeal  is  tempered  by  a 
greater  thoughtfulness.  A  year  ago  we  were  ready  to  rush  into  battle  without 
preparation,  and  despising  the  enemy  like  a  troop  of  headlong  boys,  who  love 
excitement  and  are  reckless  of  consequences.  But  at  this  time,  though  we  are 
no  less  determined  to  fight,  we  desire  to  do  so  with  a  distinct  object  and  a  care- 
ful estimate  of  the  means.  We  have  learned  from  experience  that  our  enemy, 
being  of  our  own  blood,  is  no  despicable  opponent ;  we  know  his  desperation  ; 
and  we  feel  that  he  is  only  to  be  overcome  by  the  most  strenuous  and  persistent 
efforts.  We  cannot  play  with  him  any  longer,  and  if  we  fight  him  we  must 
fight  him  in  grim  and  deadly  earnest.  We  must  not  stand  on  trifles  if  we 
mean  to  put  down  the  rebellion  speedily  and  forever. 

The  single  result  of  this  great  assemblage  has  been  to  express  the  necessity  of 
a  more  active  and  stringent  prosecution  of  hostilities.  No  other  opinion  was 
uttered  ;  no  other  sentiment  tolerated.  A  drunken  fellow  near  Fremont's  stand 
began  to  mutter  something  about  "  abolitionists,"  but  he  was  instantly  silenced 
by  the  cry  that  the  war  must  go  on  at  all  hazards,  and  by  every  means  in  our 
power.  No  one  tries  to  revive  those  old  partisan  cries  who  is  not  in  the  interest 
of  secession,  while  loyal  men  and  women  everywhere  will  echo  the  resolve  of 
this  gigantic  congregation,  to  urge  "  upon  the  Government  the  exercise  of  its 
utmost  skill  and  vigor  in  the  prosecution  of  this  war,  unity  of  design,  compre- 
hensiveness of  plan,  a  uniform  policy  and  a  stringent  use  of  all  the  means  within 
its  reach,  consistent  with  the  usages  of  civilized  warfare." 


[From  the  Commercial  Advertiser,  July  16.] 

The  gathering  of  the  loyal  people  of  this  city  at  Union  Square,  yesterday  after- 
noon, exceeded  the  expectations  of  the  most  sanguine.     In  numbers,  character 


113 

and  exalted  patriotism,  it  has  had  no  parallel  on  this  continent.  The  sight  of 
the  congregated  thousands  was  calculated  to  make  a  New-Yorker  feel  proud  of  his 
citizenship.  The  unanimity  of  sentiment  was  marvelous.  One  loyal  pulse  beat 
through  the  whole  mass.  One  foolish  man,  apparently  of  foreign  birth,  paraded 
the  crowd  with  a  white  pocket-kerchief  attached  to  a  walking  cane,  and  could 
not  conceal  his  mortification  that  he  was  met  everywhere  by  a  smile  of  contempt. 
At  length,  however,  somebody  gave  him  a  hint  that  he  had  made  a  fool  of  him- 
self long  enough,  and  he  was  glad  of  an  excuse  to  "  skedaddle."  We  have  said 
that  the  unanimity  of  the  multitudinous  gathering  was  marvelous,  and  we  may 
add  that  the  universal  sentiment  was  that  the  Federal  Government  should  be 
supported  in  the  extremest  measures  that  might  be  deemed  necessary  for  speedily 
as  well  as  effectually  putting  down  the  infamous  revolt  of  the  Southern  States. 

One  naturally  connects  the  meeting  of  yesterday  with  the  great  Union  meet- 
ing held  in  the  same  place  when  first  the  news  was  received  that  the  rebels  of 
Charleston  had  commenced  war  against  the  United  States  by  their  attack  upon 
Fort  Sumter  and  its  feeble  garrison.  In  some  respects  there  was  a  similarity 
between  the  two  meetings,  but  in  other  respects  a  material  difference.  That  of 
yesterday  was  much  the  larger,  as  we  affirm  on  personal  observation.  This  was 
scarcely  to  be  anticipated,  considering  what  liberal  contributions  the  Empire 
City  has  made  to  the  Federal  army.  The  fact,  however,  is  suggestive.  In  the 
former  meeting  a  universal  excitement  had  suddenly  seized  upon  the  community, 
and  every  man  who  loved  his  country  felt  all  the  maddening  anguish  of  the  insult 
offered  to  its  flag,  without  any  realization  of  the  sacrifice  that  would  have  to  be 
made  before  that  insult  could  be  properly  resented  and  punished.  Yesterday 
loyal  men  came  together,  after  having  not  only  counted  the  cost  of  vindicating 
the  country's  honor,  but  having  themselves  in  their  persons,  their  property  or 
their  families,  actually  borne  a  share  of  such  sacrifice.  And  yet  were  the  people 
yesterday  even  more  determined  and  enthusiastic  in  their  patriotism  and  de- 
votion to  the  Union  than  were  those  in  April  last. 

Nor  can  we  withhold  our  testimony  respecting  another  important  feature  of 
yesterday's  meeting.  That  vast  multitude  most  unmistakably  declared  them- 
s^lves  in  favor  of  increased  vigor  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  of  greater 
severity  of  treatment  to  those  in  arms  against  the  Federal  Government.  And 
the  speakers  were  manifestly  of  the  same  mind.  All  felt  and  said  that  lenity  was 
thrown  away  upon  the  vindictive  men  who  have  sought,  for  their  own  aggran- 
dizement, the  severance  of  this  glorious  Union.  'Men  heretofore  proverbial  for 
their  conservatism— public  men  who  have  in  days  past  counseled  the  exhaustion 
of  all  conciliatory  measures  that  could  be  employed  without  sacrifice  of  dignity 
and  right  on  the  part  of  the  Federal  Government — merchants  whose  commercial 
connection  with  the  South  has  not  unnaturally  rendered  them  averse  to  extreme 
measures  against  the  rebels, — prominent  politicians,  whose  party  sympathies  and 
party  hopes  have  been  bound  up  with  the  South— all  yesterday  agreed  and  em- 
phatically declared  that  the  Government  must  no  longer  hesitate  to  employ  every 
power,  the  use  of  which  is  authorized  by  the  laws  of  warfare,  to  put  a  speedy 
and  perpetual  end  to  the  rebellion ;  and  the  more  emphatically  this  purpose  was 
declared  the  more  enthusiastic  was  the  applause. 

Another  gratifying  feature  of  the  meeting  was  that  every  allusion  to  the  ne- 
cessity of  further  enlistments  in  the  Federal  army  met  with  a  no  less  enthusiastic 
response,  while  the  living  mass  that  filled  the  Square  told  plainly  that  this  city 
has  the  material  for  more  than  its  proportion  of  the  additional  forces  called  for. 
No  one  who  saw  the  meeting  of  last  night  and  heard  the  yearnings  and  the  out- 
bursts of  its  patriotism  can  for  a  moment  entertain  any  apprehension  that  volun- 
teers will  be  lackinf  to  bear  the  banner  of  the  Union  victoriously  to  the  ex- 
tremest point  of  its  Southern  territory.  We  should  have  rejoiced  greatly  could 
the  President  of  the  United  States  have^een  and  heard  what  transpired  in  Union 
Park  Square  yesterday.  He  would  have  received  a  vivid  and  indelible  impres- 
sion of"  this  truth,  that  if  he  will  but  strike  the  rebellion  heavily,  promptly,  de- 
cisively, a  popular' support  will  go  with  him  that  will  be  irresistible. 

15 


114 

[From  the  New-York  Times,  July  16th.] 

0 

THE  VOICE  OF  THE  METROPOLIS. — The  great  popular  demonstration  in  this 
city,  yesterday,  was  of  a  spirit  and  character  sufficiently  decided  and  enthusiastic. 
It,  with  the  April  demonstration  of  last  year,  forms  the  second  of  the  two  largest 
and  most  influential  meetings  ever  held  in  New- York.  It  proclaimed,  in  unmistak- 
able language  and  in  clear  voice,  the  purpose  of  the  people  in  regard  to  the  war  and 
in  support  of  the  Union  and  the  Government.  From  every  stand  and  by  every 
speaker  there  was  but  one  tone ;  and  every  man  present  seemed  inspired  by  the 
spirit  of  the  hour.  It  was  that  the  war  begun  by  traitors  must  be  pushed  on  till 
treason  is  extirpated  from  the  whole  land  ;  that  the  Union  which,  during  the  year 
has  cost  so  much  blood  and  treasure,  must  be  battled  for  while  any  blood  or  trea- 
sure is  left  in  the  country  ;  and  that,  to  this  end,  the  legitimate  directors  of  the 
war  must  be  upheld  in  every  effort  for  its  successful  prosecution,  and  impelled 
onward  by  the  people  to  greater  efforts  and  the  most  decisive  measures.  Though 
during  the  year  thousands  of  the  bravest  and  best  of  the  sons  of  New- York  have 
given  their  lives  for  the  sacred  cause,  there  were  yet  thousands  more  ready  to 
meet  the  ordeal  of  battle  for  its  support ;  and  though  tens  of  thousands  were 
now  on  the  battle-field  in  Virginia,  there  would  be  no  lack  of  men  willing  to 
follow  them  there  or  anywhere  else.  They  were  in  favor  of  the  strongest 
measures  on  the  part  of  the  Government ;  the  most  determined  vigor  on  the 
part  of  commanders  ;  the  most  unflinching  prosecution  of  the  war.  The 
most  energetic  words  were  applauded  with  most  vehemence  ;  the  most  courage- 
ous expressions  met  with  the  warmest  response  in  the  people's  hearts.  There 
was  no  talk  of  discouragement,  not  the  shadow  of  a  thought  of  doubt  of  ulti- 
mate triumphant  success.  Recent  disasters  were  acknowledged  and  felt  to  be 
but  temporary  and  accidental ;  and  the  long  roll  of  victories  that  glorify  the 
year  gave  faith  that  the  triumphs  of  our  arms  in  the  future  would  be  none  the 
less  prouder  and  decisive. 

There  could  not  have  been  greater  unanimity  displayed  on  the  part  of  all 
classes  and  parties  in  New-York.  Men  of  every  political  antecedent  and  of 
every  soc  al  grade  agreed  and  fraternized,  as  they  have  done  in  the  past? 
There  was  no  thought  of  any  sort  of  compromise — not  a  man  who  dared  to 
propose  to  turn  the  back  toward  the  enemy.  All  felt  that  whatever  stood  in  the 
nation's  pathway  must  be  broken  through,  and  that  nothing  in  the  South  nor  in 
the  North  was  so  sacred  as  the  Unity  of  the  Republic.  On  this  point  the 
voice  of  the  people,  as  expressed  yesterday,  was  unmistakable. 

The  meeting  of  April,  last  year,  was  held  the  day  after  our  troops  had  been 
assaulted  in  Baltimore,  and  the  first  blood  had  been  shed  in  the  war.  It  gave 
an  impetus  to  volunteering  and  to  the  National  cause  throughout  the  whole 
country ;  it  gave  strength  and  vigor  to  the  Administration,  consolidated  the 
sentiment  of  the  city,  and  was  the  first  unmistakable  evidence  of  a  united 
North.  The  North  has  remained  united  throughout  the  year,  and  its  unity  is 
still  unbroken  ;  and  to  this  fact,  next  to  the  courage  of  our  army,  is  owing  the 
triumphs  of  the  past  over  the  rebellion.  This  meeting  gives  a  further  expression 
to  the  same  purpose  of  the  North  ;  and  if  it  does  as  much  to  stimulate  the 
the  country  and  aid  the  Government,  it  will  be  a  success. 

New-York  now  has  had  its  day  of  talk.  The  next  work  in  hand  is  fighting. 
The  people  have  spoken  ;  now  let  them  buckle  on  the  armor.  There  ia 
spirit  enough,  courage  enough,  faith  enough ;  let  there  be  no  backwardness 
in  volunteering.  Three  hundred  thousand  troops  aj:e  needed — needed  at  once. 
Our  gallant  army,  which  marched  to  the  field  a  year  ago,  has  already  done  more 
than  half  the  work  of  crushing  the  rebellion,  and  restoring  the  Union.  The 
men  required  to  aid  in  finishing  the  other  half  of  the  labor  must  hasten  to  do 
it,  and  put  the  capstone  of  restoration  on  the  National  temple.  If  the  masses 
of  the  Metropolis  act  up  promptly  to  the  spirit  they  evinced  yesterday,  our 
quota  of  troops  will  be  in  the  field  before  the  close  of  the  week. 


115 

[From  the  New-York  Herald,  July  16.] 

THE  CRISIS. — THE  VOICE  OF  NEW- YORK. — No  SACRIFICE  TOO  GREAT  FOR  THE 
UNION. — The  city  of  New- York,  en  masse,  has  risen  and  spoken  again  for  the 
Union.  Yesterday,  in  Union  Square,  we  had  a  re-enactment  of  the  sublime  spec- 
tacle of  April,  1861,  and  a  reaffirmation  of  the  same  patriotic  spirit  and  deter- 
mination of  our  loyal  citizens" — everything  for  the  Union. 

Our  great  day  of  April,  -a  year  ago,  was  the  response  of  New- York  city  to  the 
President's  primary  call  for  seventy-five  thousand  men  to  maintain  "  the  integrity 
of  the  Union,"  violently  assailed  by  a  rebellious  conspiracy  in  the  bombardment 
of  Fort  Sumter  ;  and  that  indignant  uprising  of  New-York  rallied  the  loyal 
North,  like  the  call  of  a  trumpet,  to  the  support  of  the  President.  This  second 
grand  council  of  our  citizens,  after  fifteen  months  of  war  by  land  and  sea,  and 
after  the  contribution  by  our  city  and  State  to  our  army  and  navy  of  not  less 
than  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  men,  is  in  answer  to  another  call  of 
the  President  for  reinforcements  to  our  army  to  the  extent  of  three  hundred 
thousand  men.  Anticipating,  too,  from  the  difiusion  of  this  imposing  demon- 
stration, such  an  awakening  of  our  loyal  States  and  people  as  will  meet  all  the 
demands  of  this  crisis,  we  devote  a  large  portion  of  our  available  space  to-day  to 
the  productions  of  this  grand  assemblage,  in  order  to  spread  them  broadcast  over 
the  land,  and  to  the  encouragement  of  the  friends  of  our  great  cause  and  the 
terror  of  its  enemies  at  home  and  abroad. 

The  address  of  this  meeting  and  the  accompanying  resolutions  speak  authori- 
tatively the  voice  of  our  loyal  citizens.  They  stand  upon  the  solid  platform  of 
President  Lincoln — "  The  integrity  of  the  Union  " — its  supremacy,  and  our 
Federal  Constitution.  They  expose  the  disorganizing  and  anarchical  elements 
of  this  Southern  rebellion  with  peculiar  force — its  absurd  and  hypocritical  pre- 
tences, and  its  demoralizing  and  destructive  tendencies.  The  address  in  ques- 
tion, after  fully  establishing  the  legal  supremacy  of  the  Union  and  its  political 
necessities,  condenses  the  argument  into  the  simple  impressive  facts  that  we  are 
fighting  "  for  the  integrity  of  our  country,  for  our  national  existence,  for  the 
Christian  civilization  of  our  land,  for  our  commerce,  our  arts,  our  schools ;  for  all 
those  earthly  things  which  we  have  been  taught  most  to  cherish  and  respect." 

The  war,  then,  on  our  part,  is  to  be  prosecuted  to  the  extent  of  our  men, 
means  and  resources,  for  the  suppression  of  this  rebellion  ;  and  against  any 
hostile  foreign  intervention  whatever,  the  Government  can  count  on  the  unani- 
mous support  of  our  loyal  States  and  people.  Such  is  the  spirit  of  the  address 
adopted  by  the  city  of  New-York  at  this  mass  meeting,  and  the  accompanying 
resolutions  are  equally  emphatic  in  defining  our  position.  The  city  of  New- 
York  looks  to  no  alternative  but  the  suppression  of  this  rebellion.  She  stands 
by  our  gallant  armies  in  the  field  ;  she  is  prepared  for  any  sacrifice  to  reinforce 
and  strengthen  them  ;  she  approves  the  wise,  just  and  consistent  Union  war 
policy  of  President  Lincoln  ;  she  urges  the  Government  to  "  lose  no  time  in  fill- 
ing up  our  armies  and  putting  the  whole  sea-coast  in  a  state  of  complete  de- 
fence," and  she  knows  no  such  word  as  fail. 

Each  of  the  numerous  speakers  on  the  occasion,  though  differing  from  the  rest 
more  or  less,  supports  this  paramount  idea  of  the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the 
;war.  We  submit  our  copious  reports  to  the  careful  attention  of  our  readers ; 
and  for  their  more  complete  information  in  regard  to  the  late  and  the  present 
position  of  General  McClellan's  army,  in  this  connection,  we  give  them  a  very 
interesting  illustrative  map  of  the  field  of  war  around  the  city  of  Eichmond. 
New- York  city  has  spoken,  and  while  the  country  is  responding  to  her  cheering 
voice  let  us  proceed  to  action.  Let  us  set  an  example  in  action  by  a  prompt 
contribution  of  twenty  thousand /resh  soldiers  to  our  armies  in  Virginia.  That 
number  we  ought  to  be  able  to  draw  from  this  grand  mass  meeting  in  Union 
Square. 


116 

[From  the  New-York  Tribune,  July  16.] 

NEW- YORK  is  CONSTANT. — A  year  ago  last  April,  our  city  held  what  was 
probably  the  largest  public  meeting  ever  convened  in  America,  to  emphasize  her 
determination  to  stand  firmly  and  fully  by  the  Federal  Government,  in  the  strug- 
gle just  forced  upon  it  by  the  slaveholding  traitors,  in  devoting  her  last  dollar 
and  musket  to  the  maintenance  of  the  Union,  and  the  support  of  its  fairly  chosen 
and  rightful  authorities.  That  meeting  was  unequaled  in  numbers,  in  unanimity 
and  in  dauntless  resolution. 

Nearly  fifteen  mouths  have  since  passed,  and  again  our  city  has  mustered  her 
tens  of  thousands  to  attest  anew  her  devotion  to  the  country  and  her  cause.  If  the 
first  flush  of  enthusiasm  has  passed  away,  it  has  been  succeeded  by  a  graver,  and 
sterner,  more  inflexible  resolution.  At  the  former  meeting,  the  hope  was  still 
cherished  that  the  traitor  chiefs  would  be  left  to  their  own  devices,  and  that  the 
Southern  masses  would  compel  their  assent  to  a  speedy  and  bloodless  reunion. 
That  hope  has  been  dissipated.  Though  the  original  and  determined  secessionists 
were  less  than  one  hundred  thousand  in  number,  they  have  managed  to  bully  or 
awe  the  great  body  of  the  southern  whites  into  subserviency  to  their  treason. 
Only  from  the  despised,  oppressed,  calumniated  human  chattels  of  these  rebels, 
has  the  Union  cause  any  hope  of  defenders  in  the  States  given  over  to  the 
machinations  of  traitors. 

The  meeting  of  yesterday  was  a  fresh  exhibition  of  the  earnestness  and 
unanimity  wherewith  the  Union  is  cherished  in  the  hearts  and  hopes  of  our 
citizens.  But  it  was  more  than  this — it  was  an  entreaty,  an  exhortation  to  the 
Government  to  employ  every  influence,  every  instrument,  every  energy,  in  put- 
ting down  the  slaveholders'  rebellion. 


THE  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
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PAMPHLET  BINDER 

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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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